Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling
by NAPPA
Summary: *CHAPTER 46 - Small update - big one coming* 5th year. H/Hr. Animagi. A new Power. Harry's new crush. Hermione's romances. Balls. Dueling tournaments. War. Peace. Treaties. Dragons. Nundu. Deatheaters. Plot and many more. Too many things to mention. R/R
1. CH 01: Exploring No4 Private Drive

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If you are from schnoogle.com, then know that the writing quality is not good compared to the first chapter. It will get better, but beware that the chapters you are about to read started about a year ago. I was a lot more inexpereinced then.  
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**Beta Edited and Revised Chapters:** 01

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Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling  
**(_part 1 of 3 in the Septanic Saga)_**  
_~Nappa_  
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**Chapter 01: **Exploring No.4 Privet Drive**  
**Japanese Proverb: '_The beginning of love is the end of Happiness_'

After Harry received a clap on the back from Ron, Hermione said good-bye. Then she did something that Harry had never expected her to do- she leaned in close and quickly kissed him on the cheek. 

Harry did not have time to think about the kiss as Fred and George materialized next to him. While George whispered a thanks, Fred at his side nodded his head very fast. Harry was afraid that if Fred continued to do what he was doing, something inside Fred's head might come loose. Then he thought otherwise as he remembered the countless things that the twins had done. He winked at them and then turned to Uncle Vernon.

Harry's uncle, the plump, bull-headed man with no neck, started heading towards the station exit. Harry followed, giving a last wave to his friends. He looked out the window as the car quickly passed the station and then the busy streets lined with shops. As the car continued slowly into the residential district, Harry comforted himself with one thought.

_There's no point in worrying about it… like Hagrid said, what would come, would come…_

A look of harsh determination passed his face for a few seconds, before he finished his thought.

_And I'll meet it when it comes…_

Harry's back ached as he sat upright on the back seat of his uncle's car. Though it was quite an expensive car and had plush leather seats, it really wasn't comfortable for Harry to sit on. He was feeling tense from the events of the past year. He looked out the window and watched the number of shops along the streets decrease while the number of houses increased, until there were only houses on both sides of the road with the occasional corner dairy.

Vernon Dursley looked several times at his nephew in the rear view mirror. The statement on Harry's face was that of a person in great pain and even he did not dare rile the boy. However, it was not because he actually gave a damn about his nephew. No—it was because he was afraid that Harry would lose control of his powers and blow him up like Harry did to his sister Marge two years ago. 

Harry had to make two trips to the get all his school things back into his room. His trunk went to the closet in his room as Vernon wanted the cupboard under the stairs free that year to house some of the materials he ordered for the company that he directed. Once his second trip was finished, Harry locked himself into the room and fell onto the bed. He brought up his knees up to his chest and started to shiver slightly as he rocked back and forth.

***

_It's been three days already,_ thought Vernon as he nervously paced outside the door to his nephew's room.

Today was the fourth day since Harry's arrival back at his house. As much as Vernon loved locking Harry up in his room, he was really quite afraid of what his nephew was doing in his bedroom. Several times that morning, he had knelt down beside the cat flap that he had been using to put meals inside Harry's room. Petunia would usually do this sort of thing but she refused to even look at her nephew this summer.

For the last three days whenever he opened the flap, he saw that the food was still there, uneaten. He was facing a very tough dilemma. If he broke into the room and forced his nephew to eat, Harry might send a letter to Sirius Black, his godfather who was known for murdering good ordinary people, explaining that he'd been forced to do something. However, if he died of starvation the whole of the magical community would come after him. Vernon knew Harry was some kind of celebrity among those he called "the freaks." Also there was no telling what Black would do to him if something happened to Harry. 

After pacing for a few more moments, he finally had enough courage to kneel down and check the cat flap. He was simply overjoyed when he saw that the food that had been piled up at the door for the last three days was now all gone. There wasn't even a crumb of that horrible meatloaf his wife had made left on the plate.

Vernon did not know exactly why he didn't just go into Harry's room and give him chores to do but he suspected that it had something to do with the fact that his company's share price had tripled and the dividend that was due to come this week would be almost three times his monthly pay. His delight could be seen as he walked to the kitchen. There was an unmistakable spring in his step as he walked.

Unknown to Vernon, Harry had spent most of the last three out of four days experimenting with something, in his opinion, so wonderful that he could not be bothered to eat. It had all begun with the nightmare he had on the day he got back from Hogwarts.

***

**Four days earlier… **

Though Harry had felt that he could meet the challenge of what was to come, he really had no idea that, once back in his bedroom, his optimism would shatter so quickly. Unable to bear the pain of holding back all that he was feeling, he moved to the bed. He tucked his knees against his chest and started to rock back and forth slightly. Shivers passed through his body with each memory that assaulted his mind. Harry didn't know when he finally was able to sleep but he did fall asleep very soon afterwards.

Yet slumber did not hold the key to Harry's salvation from the memories as his mind played the events of the TriWizard Tournament with vivid details. As that horrible scene kept replaying in his mind, Cedric's face was constantly being replaced by other faces that Harry had seen in his life. Try as Harry might, he was unable to wake up from his nightmare until he saw the death of one person that he could not bear to live without.

That was Hermione.

However, once he was awake, he could not remember who the last person who had died was. The pain of loss had awakened him from the nightmare, but it also took away the cause of pain, the fragment of the dream that had ultimately caused him to wake.

Sitting up on the bed, with his blanket covering him from the waist down, Harry considered telling Ron or Sirius about his nightmares. He decided against it seeing as his scar had not been hurting. He did not want to bother them or Hermione to worry about him. Specially since, there was not cause to.

To get his mind off his bad dream, he flicked his gaze to the side of his bed. His bedside alarm clock read 3:00 am. Not wanting to go back to sleep and feeling a bit thirsty, Harry decided to go to the kitchen. In order to avoid awakening the Dursley's, Harry silently got out of his bed and very gently opened his bedroom door.

Half-way down the corridor, he noticed a blue glow coming from Dudley's room through the door, left slightly ajar. After the events of TriWizard Tournament, Harry had taken to heart the advice that 'Mad Eye' Moody, or rather Barty Crouch, had dished out often — "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" — and always kept his wand with him. He reached into his pocket and retrieved it. He shifted his wand from one hand to the other as he moved towards the door. He took a deep breath and poked his head into the room, slowly, attempting to see if — really — he was in danger, without any idea as to what he'd do should he be.

Dudley had grown even larger than the last time Harry had seen him and that was almost a year ago. Harry noted that the double bed in his room looked a bit stressed under his cousin's overwhelming weight, as he lay there on his stomach, sleeping.

Harry was surprised to see the source of the blue glow. It was the new 29" plasma-whatever TV he had acquired while Harry was gone. But the real surprise came when he actually noticed what Dudley had been watching. It was a late night soft porn flick called "Return of the Arse Avenger." Harry, being at Hogwarts all year, had never seen anything like it. Naturally, he was intrigued but after a few minutes of stupid pickup lines and senseless plot, Harry lost interest. He felt his stomach make a low rumbling noise. He was thirsty again.

It seemed odd to him that just because a man showed up at the doorstep of a woman, they would immediately engage in sex. It was unrealistic. He had asked Cho but she hadn't wanted to go the ball with him and he had only asked for a date to the ball — it was far less then sex. It made him wonder if people who made the videos actually knew any girls. Real girls like Hermione, Fleur and Cho, seemed to him like mysteries. Hermione with her odd ideas and love for adventure, and then wearing the pretty blue dress and going to the dance — a very girl-like things to do, since she always seemed to like things the boys do. Fleur seemed like a snobby girl in the beginning, but once he got to know her, she was kind and nice.

Harry realized the only way to stop Voldemort from ruling over his life and ruining his childhood was for him to defeat the Dark Lord once and for all. He would never be able to get involved with a girl otherwise. Hermione was just a friend, but she was in a lot of danger because of it. Harry was suddenly glad that Cho had said no. _Otherwise, she might have been targeted by Voldemort._

To do what so many had failed to do before, Harry knew that he would have to be more serious in his studies and probably do a lot of extra work. Extra work could mean that he would need more time for his study. Time he would only get if he stopped going to Quidditch practices — and therefore the end of Quidditch playing! He really didn't want to do that, because it would take away the only way he'd relax and means of getting back to Slytherins, like Malfoy, who took pleasure in making his life a living hell.

Harry was surprised at his own determination to face his parent's murderer. With his nightmare now forgotten and a new resolution for the future, Harry quickly headed to his room. He made sure that he turned the TV off noiselessly as he left. He wasn't sure that was a wise move, as it could very well have woken Dudley up. Even if it didn't, it might have made Dudley realize that he had sneaked into his room, when he had been sleeping. Turning the television back on was a risk that he simply did not want to take. It might have been more trouble then it was worth.

Approaching the kitchen, he stepped on a particularly old, squeaking floor board. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest, almost sure that his aunt or uncle had heard it and would be soon barging out of their bedroom. Harry turned and walked back to his room, as fast as he could, without making anymore noise – his thirst would have to wait. 

Lying in his bed Harry tried actively to think of other things to keep his mind off the nightmare and his increasing thirst. _Transfiguration… everything in there. I need to work on Potions — Snape isn't going to continue making life difficult for me; more chances of him shaving his greasy hair off. _Harry mentally smiled. _Maybe Hermione can help me in Charms and Defense against Dark Arts… I'm going to need to focus on those. I'm going to be of no use in a duel, if I'm not in those two._

Thinking of Voldemort again was not helping him go back to sleep, so he decided to think of his friends. _I wonder if Sirius is okay. I hope Remus knows where to keep him safe. I don't want him hurt. Maybe he'll stay over at Ron's house. It'd be wonderful. I could see him, if I went there. _Then Harry's mind turned sour. _Or not. Maybe I should send him an owl, telling him to stay far away from this country altogether._

His thoughts then focused on Hermione. _I hope she's having fun on her holiday. _Harry knew that Hermione's parents usually took holidays when she was home. He was sure she was overseas — far from trouble. He remembered how worried she looked at the station. Harry's hand moved unconsciously to where she had kissed him, rubbing that spot gently. Hermione had surprised him with the peck on the cheek, _but it was probably because she was really concerned_, he thought. _It had to be, _he reasoned, _Hermione seemed to like Ron, and that broken arm on the Krum doll must have meant something…_

His thought trailed to the Weasley clan. _I wonder how long before Ron gets his new dress robes. Fred and George, I'm sure, have already been to Diagon Alley for supplies… Should I owl them about the dream? I guess not. They won't know what to do anyway – Hermione then?… no. I don't want to worry her again._

Harry's thoughts were getting more and more fragmented, as slumber inched closer to him. It was a while before he finally drifted off to sleep.

***

Consciousness brushed his mind, and Harry found himself sitting on the edge of his bed. He looked at the grilled window and found that it was still dark outside. Wanting to go back to sleep he turned to where he usually slept. Surprisingly though, someone was already occupying that place.

It was him.

Suddenly, realization struck him. He was dead. _Great! The day I decide to be a better student, I die…,_ he sulked for a moment. He paced back and forth a little, patiently awaiting the arrival of an angel or a demon to take him to his final resting place or, even, the proverbial bright white light.

That idea quickly went out the window when he noticed something about his body on the bed. _Hey! Wait a minute… I can see myself breathing — this is too strange —, if I'm breathing and that is me, then I'm just dreaming… or something like that. Maybe I should try to wake up._

As soon as that thought passed Harry's mind, he felt himself bolt up on his bed. He immediately jumped straight out of it and stared at it as if it had just tried to pinch his bottom. He felt the need to take a few deep and soothing breaths. Finally, after about half an hour, his heart rate seemed to be back to normal.

Harry was pacing around his bed, careful not to make too much noise. He needed to know exactly what was happening. Telling Ron or Hermione was out of the question since they would just try to get him to warn Dumbledore or Sirius, and he did not want Sirius to worry about him or do something that might lead to his capture. Hermione and they had been worrying about him enough as it was, he did not want to be a nuisance to them. 

Harry decided that he'd better try to sleep again in an attempt to take Sirius off his mind. _Maybe it won't happen again_…, thought Harry foolishly. He has certain that what he was doing could kill him. He had been able to bring himself out of it the last time by trying to wake himself up, but there really was no guarantee that he would be able to get out this time. What if something other than himself had gotten him out of that state? What if the next time he could not do it? What if he was trapped, and people, thinking he was dead, would bury him?

Harry, however, was curious. As his thoughts drifted back and forth between his friends and his own parents, he slowly succumbed to sleep.

Only three minutes passed before he found himself back in the same situation as earlier. Though he briefly panicked, he quickly recovered and attempted to wake up, like he had done before, to escape his dream-like state. When he found himself tangled in his blanket, it felt like only an instant had passed.

From his past two experiences, Harry assumed that exploring whatever it was he was doing wouldn't be of any harm. He actually started having fun going to sleep and waking up, staring at himself as if it were a mirrored reflection, his already messy hair even more messed up with sweat, and his face with a very slight smile. He stared at himself for a long while, every second expecting his body to take a life of its own and scare the hell out him, which, fortunately, it didn't.

_I can really see myself as others see me. I have a reasonable face, a toned body, but very few muscles, bright green eyes — which I can't see 'cause they're closed…_

Harry gasped at his thoughts. He couldn't get over himself. _Keep it up, Harry, and you'll be a regular Lockhart in no time!,_ he scolded himself —amusement laced his voice. He decided that since it was almost morning, he might as well experiment some more before the slave drivers woke up.

Experiment, he did. And he did it for three days straight. Though he knew he was overdoing it, the fun of whatever it was, was too incredible for him to stop. Harry had no idea how he was doing it, but he had learned it to be safe since all he had to do was think about waking up and he would.

On the first day, he had not tried to leave his room and instead had opted to explore it — though later he would find out that it might have had been impossible for him to actually leave the room then anyway.

At first, it was hard to touch things. Harry would feel excruciating pain somewhat close to that of the Cruciatus curse, for touching — maybe it should be referred to as attempting to touch, since he passed right through objects — objects that were either metallic or of magical nature. The non-magical or non-metallic objects felt like mere pricks of needles, although such pain was constant as well. Six hours of extensive experimentation and the pain subsided to that of a pencil being stabbed into his arm for both magical and metallic objects, while the stinging for other things totally disappeared.

His biggest challenge was passing through the closet door. Harry's mind was racing faster than it ever had. He realised that this power or ability that he possessed would come in handy as a reconnaissance tool. Having the ability to walk though walls should certainly prove useful. 

The pain almost made him feel like he was going to black out — but Harry quickly realised the irony in that statement.

_How can anyone pass out in his sleep? _

Harry quickly stopped trying to get into the closet. He had a weird feeling that if he actually passed out there, while he was still in this dream-like state, he might end up dying. At this point Harry looked at the clock on his bed table, which read 2:02 p.m. Vernon had left food near the door but Harry was not hungry at all.

Harry dedicated most of the eight next hours, slowly building up his level of pain tolerance by gradually putting more of his body through the door. When he finally did pass it, he suddenly realised that the further he got from his real body, the harder it was to get through things.

Harry had always loved to seek his limits: to see what he could, and couldn't do. New things had always strike him as intriguing. He knew that this power would probably be of no use to him, if he was not able to use it properly and to its fullest extent. Harry toyed with the idea to see if he was able to leave the room thinking of his newly gained talent. He wondered if it actually was possible to leave the room. If he couldn't leave the room, what good would it serve?

The pain that Harry experienced when he tried to get through the closet door was actually ten times higher. At first, Harry attributed this to the fact that, for some reason, the closet door was much thicker than the door to his room — it would not be until later that Harry realised that with practice, the pain could almost become bearable.

As he left the room, he could feel the pain approaching again. A hour and a half were required for Harry to figure out that the fastest way to advance from the room was to take two step forward, and one back, rest, and then repeat the process.

Eventually, after two days of experimenting, Harry thought up of a name to qualify what he was doing. He did not have any idea what it was called in reality — or if he had a name for that matter —, but he wanted to have something short to call it. He chose "Moon Walking" because of the fact that he still had to take a few steps forwards and then back a few. Harry imagined that he looked much like the Muggle dancer he had seen on television and, for some reason, he remembered the name of the awkward dance.

Harry had deprived himself from food and water during this time. His uncle had been slipping meals under the door, but Harry was not interested. It seemed like his body was working off energy reserves that he knew not of. Once he did realise that he did not need food yet, Harry tried his best not to snap himself out of the Moon Walking phase. He wanted to see how long Harry would last. Information, he thought would be very useful, if he was able to survive.

At the end of the second day, Harry discovered something quite new. It happened when he was "Moon Walking" and had stumbled into Dudley's room. Harry could see bubbles above Dudley's head — like those in Ron's or Dudley's comic books — as he slept. When Harry entered the room, the white bubble was empty but soon it started to show Dudley's dreams.

Dudley was dreaming that he was on the beach, with several extremely beautiful women, wearing bikinis so small that Harry thought it might have been more decent to not wear anything at all. Suddenly a woman appeared out of thin air and gave Dudley a basket full of hamburgers and a kiss right on the mouth. 

Harry did not know what to do first — spill his guts out on the floor in revulsion or laugh his head off.

_Oh… I have to tell Ron about this…_, he thought, before remembering how Ron had reacted the year before. Ron had refused to believe Harry point blank that he had not entered his name into the goblet. Accusing Harry of lying to him when in his whole life Harry had never told Ron anything that was not true. He had said nothing, if he had not asked for it, but he had never lied to bent the truth to suit himself. 

Because of Ron's had believed that Harry was lying, when all the evidence in his opinion pointed at someone framing him, Harry was afraid Ron would abandon him again. It had been bad enough the first time around, and Harry was not going to do anything to let that happen again. He would hide it from Ron, if need be, but he was not going to make a bit of magic come between him and his friend. 

But what Harry was more worried about was how Hermione would react. He was very sure that Hermione would not be jealous of him but she could go on for a long time telling him all about the implications of his unethical practices, such as seeing Dudley's dream, even if it had been unintentional. Harry quickly left the room before he witnessed something he did not want to. He had no intention of invading other people's privacy, even if they were the ones who tried to make his entire life as miserable as possible.

Harry was so lost in his thoughts that he did not notice that he had kept walking after he had went through the door out of his room. It seemed that he had easily become habituated to the pattern of going back and forth. It had become second nature to him. It was not long before he was past the entrance door to the house, and was rapidly approaching the end of the driveway. Before Harry could react to his accomplishment, a thick pink barrier went up all around the Dursleys' residence, trapping Harry within it.

The barrier was largely invisible, but it had a slight pink colouring to it that that could only be seen as the person got closer to Harry. Harry saw it as clearly being pink because he was inside the barrier and therefore he was seeing the active part of the shield. Millions of small, but powerful, sparks of pink energy came rushing towards him, as the barrier held him in place – refusing to let go. As soon as they touched Harry, they would discharge leaving Harry to scream in pain as shots of pure energy wracked at his nervous system. This led to something even worse. The energy bolts would seek out his open mouth in an attempt to discharge there. Like it already tried to do in other orifices. The pain that surged through his body was excruciating and it felt like nothing he had experienced before. The unforgivable Cruciatus curse paled in comparison. His vision started to get blurry very fast and all he could see were large blocks of colours that were diminishing in brightness. His hearing was slowly becoming weaker and then suddenly both his vision and hearing stopped.

As a Muggle female jogger passed right by Harry, admiring the expensive looking house that Harry was a resident in, Harry's last thoughts were, _Oh no! I can just see the headlines now! 'The great Harry Potter died in his sleep!'_

**Thank you section: **My previous beta's and people that helped me along the way of writing the story: Molley O'Riley, James, Maginker, Twelve Eyes, Jaime, Jeremie, Constantine, Yumi, Mia, Armand and more. I am sorry, I can't recall them all off the top of my head. Thanks to the readers as well. :)

**STANDARD DISCLAIMER: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  



	2. CH 02: What to do with Harry?

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Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 2/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 02  
**Chapter Name:** What to do with Harry?

Vernon Dursley had just checked the money news for the third time today. His company's share had jumped five times over the past few days as the company was supposed to expand operations into Japan and nothing was going to ruin his good mood. He was so happy, that when his nephew finally left his room, Vernon did not give him any chores or even try to rile him.

Vernon was so busy pondering how to use the money, that he did not even notice when his nephew bumped into him.

Harry had been moonwalking for the last two and a half days straight and during that time he had almost nothing to eat. He felt that this explained why he was unable to stand up to the pain or try to get out of the barrier. A loud grumbling noise coming from his stomach that was evidently strong enough to frighten Hedwig confirmed his suspicions. 

Harry barely made it to the food that had been piling up for three days and quickly finished all of it, leaving the plates almost clean. The meatloaf was terrible, but for the sake of the vitamins and nutrients that his body craved, he forced it down his throat.

When Vernon announced that the whole family was going to Hawaii, Harry was excited. After all Uncle Vernon did day say the whole family was going. Now being the twisted and cruel person that Vernon Dursley was it shouldn't have come as a surprise that Harry was going to be left behind. But Vernon did not want to leave the "freak" alone in the house, fearing on his return he would find a smouldering pile of ash. This fear was not totally unfounded, as accidents seem to constantly happen all around Harry.  
  
Vernon gave Harry three days to arrange to stay somewhere with one of his friends; otherwise they were going to kick him onto the street. Harry, logically, decided that this was a good time as any to write to his friends and to Sirius. He ran to his room, taking his dinner with him, which tonight was a large piece of cucumber and a carrot. Harry quickly went into his room and took out his writing equipment. He decided to write to Hagrid first.

**__**

Dear Hagrid,   
I know I'm not supposed to know what you're doing, but I think I have an idea. I hope you are well and in good health. I hope "they're" not as bad as people say. How's Madam Maxime? I hope you two are getting along well. Tell me everything when I'm back at Hogwarts, since it's too dangerous to owl me.  
**Harry**  
  
Harry finally decided that he wanted to write to Sirius, but he planned to conveniently forget about his three days of adventure when writing the letter. 

**__**

Dear Snuffles,  
How are you? I'll be short. I miss you and hope to see you soon. After Lord Voldemort returned, I would have thought there would be a whole bunch of muggles missing or dead, but there has been nothing like that on the muggle news.

I haven't got anything from Ron, so I'm guessing that nothing is happening in the wizarding world. Do you think he is just biding his time and getting stronger or do you think he is up to something... something big? Well, the Dursleys are kicking me out of the house since they are going to Hawaii, Don't worry this is a blessing in disguise. I'm --- wait a letter just showed up – I'll be right back....

Harry was surprised to see that a regal looking post owl, which clearly belonged to Hogwarts, swooped down and dropped a letter. It was from Professor Dumbledore.

****

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY  
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore   
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc. Chf. Warlock,   
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

**__**

Dear Mr. Potter,   
_  
I take great pleasure in announcing the fact that you've been chosen to be one of the two prefects from your house. As you might know, each year two fifth year students from each house chosen to be prefects. The other person from your year is none other than your friend Ms. Granger. This should not come as a surprise to anyone in light of her academic achievements.  
  
(* Can't argue there...*,  
thought Harry) _

You, however, were chosen because of the astounding amount of courage that you have shown over the course of the last four years. Please know that this is a serious commitment and it is your duty to accept it. Punishments for not following the rules as a Prefect are a lot more severe than they are for other students. So you have been warned.  
  
I recently became aware of the fact that, due to unforeseen circumstances, you can no longer live with your muggle relatives for rest of the summer. I know you would prefer to go to the Burrow, but I do not think it is wise for you to go there, as the Muggle community would be safer for you. Therefore, I have taken the liberty to talk to Ms. Granger's parents and they have agreed to take you in for rest of the summer.

(* I only found out today...  
How did he know? *, thought Harry.)  
  
If you would like to stay at another Muggle family, please owl me with their address and telephone number so that I may arrange it. Otherwise the Grangers will be there to pick you up on Sunday evening. Your school supplies and a list of your books have already been bought for you by Mr. & Mrs. Granger due to the circumstances and the money has been paid out of your vault. Please be ready to leave your house on Sunday evening.

I hope you enjoy your holiday.  
  
_Yours truly,  
**Professor A. Dumbledore**_  
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc. Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

  
Ps: (P.S.) I did not tell Ms. Granger that you are a prefect as well. I will let you tell her.  
  
* Wow, a whole summer with the Grangers *, thought an amazed Harry.  
  
Harry did not know very much about Hermione's parents other than that they were both dentists. All the times that he had had the pleasure of seeing them, he was surprised to see how kind and generous they were. But it should not have been such a surprise for him, since Hermione was like that all the time. Harry rushed to finish the letter to Sirius Black. 

  
_-- I'm back. It was a letter from Dumbledore. He told me that I could live with my friends till the start of the term. I know you are doing something for Professor Dumbledore, so I'll tell you this one time. When my birthday comes, I DO NOT want anything from you other that you being safe._

Please be careful  
  
Your godson  
**Harry**

  
He then decided to write to his two best friends. The first letter he decided to write was to Ron Weasley, his best friend.  
  
**_Dear Ron,_**  
Hope you are ok. I'm all right and I have not had a scar hurting dream in the short time that I have been here. Did you know I'm a prefect..? Me... The person who probably broke all the rules in the school. Oh yeah, Hermione is one too.   
  
And before you ask me anything about Hermione, I'll tell you something. I don't know where she might go but since I'm staying with the Grangers it's unlikely that she is going to Bulgaria. That ought to make you happy.  
  
Ron, if you like her, you have to tell her. If you keep acting the way you did last year, you will damage your friendship with her. You're really lucky that she is even talking to you after the way you acted towards her.

Your friend  
**Harry**  
  
Harry reread the letter. He wondered whether or not to tell Ron about his moonwalking but decided that he would tell him and Hermione when he met them in person and, depending on Ron's attitude at the time. Harry went to his desk and took out some more parchment from his bottom drawer and began to write a letter to Hermione.  
  
**_Dear Hermione,_**  
  
Hope you are ok. I'm fine and before you ask I have not had a scar hurting dream in the short time that I have been here. Anyway, congratulations. I hear a certain bushy haired girl with brown eyes is going to be the fifth year prefect. I hope you know how proud Ron and I are of you. Hey, do you know who the other one is? Well, I do!!   
  
He has messy black hair, bright green eyes, and a lightning shaped scar on his head. Give up?

It's me! Your hard work and study finally paid off. But on the other hand with mediocre marks and a reckless disregard for rules I'm also a prefect. Now this has got to be funny. I have something important to talk to you about, when I get to your place. We'll talk more then. Bye.

Your friend  
**Harry**  
  
Harry quickly tied the letters to Hedwig, and she took off quickly but gracefully into the gentle wind. Now that the world around Harry was back on track, Harry decided to go back and experiment a little more. It was four o'clock and there were still quite a few hours before he had to get his stuff ready. As Harry tried to force himself to go to sleep, his thoughts kept turning to the third task and the its aftermath. This only made him stay awake longer. When slumber finally arrived at his doorstep he welcomed it fully.   
  
Harry was determined to get better at moonwalking. He had to defeat Voldermort, otherwise his friends would always be in danger. Harry knew he had to become familiar with anything that he might be able to use as a weapon against Voldemort and his forces of evil. 

As Harry passed through his door and the front door, he did not even feel a sting. He was pleased with himself for improving so much. When he approached the end of the driveway flashes of the pain that he suffered came rushing to his mind.   
  
Harry suddenly felt weak and dropped to his knees. He tried to block the pain and after some time the pain was gone as quickly as it came before. Harry felt a new wave of strength wash over him. He finally understood that pain builds strength, to do what's necessary next time.  
  
Harry was now very close to where he thought the barrier was. He gently lifted up his arm and tried to reach into the barrier. As soon as his index finger touched the invisible barrier, he could see the pink bolts of energy rush towards him. Though the pink energy bolts did not hurt him as much as they had done the first time he had tried it, he could still feel the sting.  
  
After about four hours of just touching and then letting go of the barrier to increase his pain threshold Harry thought that he was strong enough to walk straight into the barrier. Surprisingly, there was still pain but only as much as the first time he had experienced the crucio curse.  
  
As he stood there, glowing pink with all the energy bolts that were dashing all over his face and body, Harry realized that the pain was subsiding. By lunchtime next day he had managed to completely pass through the barrier without any significant pain. Harry didn't go any further than just outside the shield. He didn't know why but something told him it wasn't safe to go any further than he was.  
  
Harry was beaming at himself.   
  
* I think they can see me from space right now *, thought Harry as he was thinking about how happy he was. * Well, I better get ready. Uncle Vernon and the rest of the family is leaving tomorrow and I'm leaving in about four hours *, thought Harry.

As he considered entering the house. Harry wanted to try and see if he was now good enough to wake up without being in the same room as his body. He tried his hardest but gave up when he wasn't able to do it. So we decided to go take a shower.  
  
After he re-entered his body, Harry went down to tell the Dursleys that he was leaving in the afternoon. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were mauling over Hawaii brochures and did not even ask how his friends were coming. Harry was surprised, but he didn't say anything. As he was leaving the kitchen, Harry took out a small packet of juice that his Aunt Petunia had left in the freezer and went back to his room for a shower and to get his things organized.  
  
The Dursleys, along with Harry, were awaiting the arrival of Mr. & Mrs. Granger and their daughter in the living room when a very shinny looking BMW pulled into the driveway.   
  
Aunt Petunia's eyes were as big as saucers when she saw the car. She had no idea that the daughter of such a wealthy couple could be a freak like her nephew. Harry rushed to open the door and got the surprise of his life when he saw Hermione.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**


	3. CH 03: Summer at the Granger’s

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 3/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 03  
**Chapter Name:** Summer at the Granger's

Harry had one glance at Hermione before she practically threw herself on top of Harry and in the process almost knocking him over. He quickly grabbed the doorframe in order to stabiles himself. The longer she hugged him the harder it was getting for him to hold on to the frame.

Harry had noticed in the split second before this that she had cut her hair very short and now the bushy hair looked more manageable, even without any sleek-ezy potion that she had used during Yule ball.

Harry never told anyone before but he liked her bushy hair more than the one she wore to the Yule ball as he thought it made her look unique. But this new style suited Hermione better.

She was wearing a bright pale yellow summer dress with light orange flower patterns all over it. She looked quite stunning and Harry was lost for word. Harry started to blush as the hug continued to grow longer. Hermione broke the hug and was the first one to talk.

" You ready?" she asked ver enthusiastically.

" Yeah, I'll just get my trunk"

" Need any help?"

" Yeah...er.. Could you get Hedwig's cage from my room?" When Hermione nodded, Harry continued speaking. " It's the first one to the left."

Harry's hair was still wet from his shower and he was wearing a T-shirt and shorts that Dudley had out grown several years ago. Hermione thought that he looked taller and when Harry's sleeve rolled up (he was putting his trunk down in the back of the car) to reveal the scar on his right arm, she could barely hold back her tears.

* I have to be strong for him * thought Hermione as she buckled herself up in the back. 

To Harry's surprise the Granger's actually lived very close. On the car it took only seven and a half minutes in medium traffic (Harry had recently discovered that he could keep accurate time in his head though he experienced loss of time between going to sleep and starting "moonwalking", as well as trying to wake up and actually waking up. It was a result of his "moonwalking" or atleast he thought it was. 

Hermione's parents though had a lot of money lived in a medium sized house with four bedrooms in a modest little neighbourhood. The only thing of real expense was the car and even that was hidden inside the garage when it was not on the road. The house was of modern construction like all the other houses on the street.

The inside of the house consisted of one master, one for Hermione and two guest rooms. Hermione showed Harry into his room, which was across the one from the Master Bedroom. Harry did not understand why they put him in there, when there was another room near Hermione's, which was empty. But he did not want to say anything to offend the Grangers.

The room didn't really have anything in it other than a desk and a shelf, which was currently empty.

Hermione put down the Hedwig's cage in corner of the room, near the window and sat down on the single bed on the other side of the small room. She watched quietly as Harry went back and forth bringing his things into the house from the car. Harry did not notice it, but Hermione's parents did. When Harry brought in the last item they followed Harry into the room and Hermione's mom sat down beside her daughter.

Harry was quietly working away not knowing that Hermione's parent's were right behind him, watching him like a pair of hawks. So when he turned around to tell Hermione she had a very nice place to live, he found himself looking straight into Paul Granger eyes. His mouth dried up in a second and he was more afraid of him at that moment than VOLDEMORT at the end of his first year. Harry opened his mouth to say something but then thought better of it and closed it very soon after.

" We need to have a talk." Paul motions Harry to pull up the only chair in the room.

" ...err... What about Mr. Granger?" asked Harry in a squeaky voice.

He couldn't see it but Hermione's mom had a small smile as she realised her husband had just scared the living daylights out of the poor boy.

" I'm letting you stay with us the whole summer. That means for the duration of your visit you are a member of the family. We all do house chores in this family and since you are here you are no exception. I'll consider you a son. That means HERMIONE IS YOUR SISTER. You do not make a move on my daughter... You do not er.." unsure of what he should say next he used something from his own memory, "...err... No Hanky Panky. Understood. GOOD"

He turned and left the room with his wife by his side. If Paul had looked back after he had left, he would have seen a very confused Harry maul over what had just been told to him. Had Paul Granger been slower in saying what he had said, Harry would not have been confused... well just not as confused as he was at that point. It would also have had given Harry an opportunity to ask what he was talking about.

When the implication of what he had been told finally hit him he was blushing all the shades of red in the wizarding world. Hermione couldn't help but smile at his embarrassment. She was used to her overprotective father, but Harry was clearly shaken by the experience. She moved closer to him on the bed before speaking.

" Don't worry. That's the way my father is. He's... well a bit over protective of me. I told him, our relationship is just friends, but they wouldn't take my word for it. Err... Harry?" said Hermione before realising Harry was not really paying any attention.

" Yeah."

" Did you hear what I said?"

" Yeah..." replied Harry as he snapped out of whatever he was thinking.

" Well???"

" Well... What?" Harry tried his best not to snap but he saw the hurt look on her face and realised that he had not tried hard enough. 

" I'm sorry... I'm really sorry".

A look of pure anguish passed his face before, Hermione returned to normal. She hugged Harry so hard that he had a hard time breathing. When she let go she said, " It's OK. I was just thinking about what you went through last year" Harry looked slightly relieved, but not by much. " I wanted to know what you wanted to show me when you got here".

" Oh... that. Why didn't you just say that?" Harry smirked, clearly excited about topic.

" Well, I'm bursting with excitement here..." before Hermione could finish her sentence she was interrupted by Harry.

" Well it all started..."

With that Harry told her the entire story. How he had had the nightmare all night, then went to investigate the light, seeing advertises (carefully missing out the part about the softporn flick on TV) were on... how he thought he could never have friends if he did not do something about VOLD-you-know-who, how he thought was dead, his exploration, then somehow without meaning to the part about seeing Dudley's dream came out of his mouth.

As soon as he said it, Harry cringed at the though that Hermione was probably going to give him a lecture, but he found himself looking at a girl who had fallen of the bed and rolling on the floor with laughter.

At the loud noises, Paul and his wife rushed to the room. When they saw Hermione try to get off the floor while holding her sides in a last ditch attempt to stop laughing, they let them be even though they did not know what had caused their daughter to act in such a manner. Mrs. Granger thought it was nice to see Hermione having fun for a change.

When Hermione finally stopped laughing, she saw Harry look at her as though she was mad. She considered that herself. Normally she would be giving Harry a lecture but the story was so funny she could not her herself. Then she had a terrible idea.

" You're not gonna try to read my dreams though are you"

" I knew you would ask that. If I wanted to do that I would have to go into your room and I'm not going into your room without your permission first... Besides I tried to see what Hedwig was thinking in her sleep, I saw nothing. I saw a stray cat dreaming about fish. So my guess is Magic things' dream I can't see. If that's not enough I can give you my invisibility cloak and you can hang it on you door. So if I try it would really hurt. The pain is close to Cruciatus curse but it lasts a long time...."

" Wow. That means that if you-know-who tries to use Cruciatus curse on you then it wouldn't hurt as much as it did. Will it?"

" You might be right. But I think VOL- " Harry paused and corrected himself

"...you-know-who was still weak from his rebirth when he did the curse on me, so I probably was lucky. That's why I want to get strong... You think you can help me?"

" Help you to do what??" Hermione asked. Then getting the meaning of what he was asking she continued "..err... You mean me teach you?" with a hint of amusement in her voice.

* Harry Potter, the boy who lived... finally wants to do something other than ride on a broom all day* thought Hermione *... but then again seeing the murderer of your parents coming back to life is bound to change a person...* 

"OK then. I will. But there're two conditions"

" What?" Harry was almost afraid to ask. Harry knew Hermione would help him no matter what... so this was probably something that she needed help with but was afraid to ask. " You'll have to read. Hogwarts: A history. Everyday" Harry was going to groan but then realised it was his idea.

" And the second?" He asked more terrified this time. Hermione usually told what needed to be done quickly. But if she didn't say the second condition when she said the first one, then either she was embarrassed or it was something particularly bad that Harry would never agree to.

"..Er..Youhavetoteachmetoflyabroom... OK. GOOD. Now that we're settled lets..." said Hermione in a very hurried voice with her cheeks slightly inflamed, but she did not get to finish her sentence as Harry cut her off.

"What did you say? I couldn't hear it."

" You have to.. teach me to fly a broom... Properly" her cheeks were burning hot as she repeated herself.

Harry had known that Hermione had a really bad time flying. Though she was not afraid of flying or height. No what she was actually afraid off was.... the broom. Though to her credit she completely ignored her broomphobia to help Harry and Ron to stop VOLDEMORT from getting the Philosophers Stone in their first year she simply was no good at on a broom stick.

" Well if it's that important to you..." Harry started to say, but then he remembered something, "but you don't have a broom... do you?" he asked scartching his head.

" Oh.. You see.. Victor sent me one." Hermione's face was totally red as she said this." Its bewitched so if I say a correct phrase it'll take me directly to him. Nimbus something or other"

" That's a good broom... Aerodynamic handle, most of the straws are hand picked but they're mass produced so not as good as a fir- " Harry stopped mouthing off the features of the broom when he saw Hermione's blank face. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I didn't wanna bore you with broom..."

Harry stopped talking when Hermione ran out of the room. Harry was very  
confused.

* Did I say something? ...* He thought to himself, *...I knew I shouldn't have had started to talk my mouth off. I think I'll go to Hermione and apologise. Yes! That's what I'll do.*

But Harry knew it would not be that easy. Knowing Hermione she would probably quiz him on why he's apologising, and he did not really want to think of the consequences of getting that question wrong. An entire summer with someone who didn't like you could be ver...." His thoughts were disturbed by a hand on his shoulder shaking him roughly.

When he lifted his face from the ground he saw it was Hermione. With her she had a light blue broomstick and two books under her arm. One was unmistakably was "Hogwarts: A History."

" I just wanted you to see it." she said. Harry breathed a sigh of relief as  
Hermione continued, "I got the book here and we are going to start your part of the bargain today. You are going to read the book and I'm going to read my 5th year spellbook. After an hour we'll switch books. Now. READ" said Hermione who was having a lot of fun bossing the boy who lived.

During his first dinner at the Grangers he found out the first name of Mrs. Granger. It was Diana. Harry noticed that she had the same sort of personality as Mrs. Weasley. Both had the idea that Harry was too thin (they were right) and needed fattening up. They both had a cheery personality and both controlled their families every aspect and could stop other members of the family from doing anything that she did no like.

Like when Paul was about to start the second phase of his "talk" with Harry. One nasty glare from the wife, he shut up his mouth. Harry knew that if he was going to stay in the house for the summer he better show that he was a good boy. He offered to do the dishes. No one actually stopped him, or acknowledges that he was a good boy.

* Oh well. I didn't really want an acknowledgement anyway * That night Harry did not try experimenting with his powers.

Being used to sleeping on a fold up bed and a mattress thin enough to feel the springs underneath, the soft bed in his room was like a being treated like a king. It took very little time for him to go to sleep. 

It felt like he had only seconds after his back touched the bed when , something landed beside him. He desperately searched for his wand next to his hand, almost sure it was Dudley who just landed in the bed next to him. But...

* It can't be. Dudley is in Hawaii now... Then deatheaters. * thought the slightly paranoid Harry.

Harry's eyes snapped open. His eyes almost hurt when the bright sunlight hit his face, but he had other pressing tasks to perform. As soon as he found the wand he leaped of the bed ready for an attack. He was about to yell the spell for disarming when a small giggle reminded Harry that he was at Hermione's house, so it was just her trying to wake her up.

* Besides if they were deatheathers, I would be dead or captured by now * he reasoned with himself.

He still could not see clearly, when Hermione put his glasses on carefully from the back. Harry slowly turned around to see Hermione with a huge smile plastered on her face. Harry was going to be annoyed and was going to tell her off, when he realised he had made a big enough fool in front of her already.

* I might as well try to get some of my dignity back *

Harry bowed like they do after a stage play. Hermione giggled a little more before telling him that her parents were at work and they needed to do some housework. 

Just so they didn't fool around, their neighbour Mrs. McDougol an elderly witch would pop by occasionally. Not only that but a long list of chores were given to them, hoping they would keep their hands away from each other. Her parents need not have had worried about that, since neither of them had developed any such feeling for each other yet. 

Most of the chores involved Harry lifting or re-positioning things. A lot of the times it was weeding the garden while Hermione sat under the tree dozing or yelling out instructions until it was time for lunch.

After lunch they would watch TV for a little while. In the afternoon it was either flying lessons or Hermione quizzing Harry on Hogwarts: A history (most of the time Harry would get all of them wrong) and then work on their homework essays (they did not really talk much during this time).

Having grown up in a family where both parents worked, Hermione was the one who prepared most of the meals. Except on Friday nights and in the weekends when her mother controlled the kitchen. Hermione was a good cook but her mother was on a totally different class altogether. 

In the weekends Harry would try and butter Hermione's mother as much as possible. Harry would complement her so much, Hermione could be seen steaming but Harry took no notice of that. Hermione did not tell Harry about how complementing her mother made her jealous, since she would quickly give have to give Harry a lecture for not reading the school books and Hogwarts: A history every night as it was.

By his fourth weekend with the Grangers Harry realised why Paul Granger was so fit. At age 39 he had a body that could be compared to someone ten years younger than him. The two women had them out in the garden, digging, shovelling, fertilising, planting and doing other major work all day long. Harry and Paul formed a special bond since they both suffered at the hand of the domineering women for four weekends in a row.

When the day ended on the 4th weekend and all that was left to do was to water the garden, Harry and Paul Granger did something they had wanted to do for four weeks. Ever since the women got the idea to redo the garden because there was now another pair of strong hands to help them do it. GET REVENGE.

" Now?" asked Harry is a low voice. " Wait for it until they turn their backs on us" said Paul in an equally conspiratorial voice.

Spotting the perfect time Harry yelled, "NOW!!!", as he sped across to where Hermione was with the hose in his hand running full blast. On the other side of the garden Paul was doing the same to Hermione's mother Diana. The two women were not pleased with the sudden drenching and decided the "boys" needed to be punished.

NO FOOD they thought as they both finished off any leftover food from previous meal. When the "boys" finally entered the house after properly watering the garden, it was a big surprise for them to find no food for them, not even a juice or small fruits. To top it all off neither of the girls would talk to them.

Paul was going to order some food, but Harry convinced Paul to do otherwise and surprise the "girls", with some home cooked food. They had lot of fun cooking and recounting the events past few weeks and as unlikely as it seems they BONDED. 

A deep conversation between Hermione and her mother about "men and their childish behaviour" was stopped when the breathtaking aroma of freshly cooked food and laughter and loud conversation entered Hermione's room.

At first they were not moved to investigate, but when the noises suddenly stopped they could not help themselves. Paul came out of hiding and led his wife to the table. She inspected the table quickly. There were of three dishes served. None of which looked like any thing that she knew, but they looked and smelled good. Paul pulled up a chair for Diana and then told her to sit down. Mrs. Granger was asked by Paul to taste the food.

" Sorry about the water spraying thing! We were tired and we needed some fun. It was Harry's idea." he said pointing his finger towards the direction of the door where Hermione was standing."... I don't know what these are but they're good"

Mrs. Granger looked as if she was ready to cry. Whether or not that's why Paul cut a piece of food from one of the dishes and almost shoved it into her mouth is still unclear. * It tastes like Chicken. It's Juicy and tender. I wonder where that boy learned to cook * thought Mrs. Granger before noticing her husband staring at her.

" What?" she asked fearing something was probably sticking out of her teeth.

But Paul Granger surprised her by saying, " You look as beautiful as the day I first saw-"

Hermione could not hear any more since someone had put their hand over her mouth and started to drag her out of the kitchen. She stopped trying to escape when she realised it was Harry from his smell of his spicy cologne.

He explained, "they would want to be alone now", as they towards the garden, where he had put some plates and rest of the food that he had cooked. Hermione could not help but complement Harry.

" ooomm. Isss goooddd" said Hermione with her mouth full of food, making Harry grin a little. After all he like her cooking better than his own so it was a great complement coming from her. When she finished what was left in her mouth she asked where he learned how to cook.

" Well, living with the Dursley's kind of forces you to learn how to cook and besides I can only cook those three things... I couldn't have done it with your dad's help."

Then she remembered that the next day was Harry's birthday, and she should give him his present, if she wanted to surprise him. She told him to wait a few minutes, she had to get something from the house.

As Harry waited he thought about what had happened during the four weeks he had been at Grangers. He had to admit he had an enjoyable time, even if most of the time was spent studying, and doing manual work. 

In his mind he ticked off two homework essays that he had done. One was for history of magic -"What effect did Grindelwald have on the war the Muggles call World War II" and "A thousand and one uses of Boomslang" for potions. Well there was still one for care of magical creatures, one for tranfiguation, one for Herbology, one for charms, one for Defence.Against.Dark.Arts.

*Maybe I'll tackle the DADA next and th- *

Harry's train of though was derailed severely when Hermione plopped herself down next to him, with a huge grin on her face. He could not see what she had behind her and since his birthday was the next day he guessed it was a present for him. 

His suspicions were confirmed when she told him to close his eyes. * Can she be any more obvious.* thought Harry fondly as he did what his friend told him to do.

Hermione put down a nicely wrapped packet in front of him and said, " OK. Open your eyes."

Harry saw the package and could guess it was a book. Harry, turned over the wrapped book several times, trying to find a way to open up the present when an annoyed Hermione snatched the package away. 

She quickly tore open the wrappers and handed the book back to him face down after saying, " Honestly Harry! Wrappings are meant to be ripped open. Now have a look at the present and tell me how you like it?"

Harry turned the book around to have a look at the title. The first surprise was the fact that it was not a book on Quidditch. Everyone always assumed Harry loved anything to do with Quidditch but as true as it was he actually liked books on other topics besides Quidditch. Harry gasped when he saw the title of the book. "66666 muggle and magical ways You can die" Harry was speechless by such a thoughtful gift.

" Gee thanks, Hermione. With this I don't have to spend too much time on my Divination homewo... Thanks Hermione. Now... We have to finish eating 'cause I have to do the dishes".

" You're welcome. But that's not the only one. My parents are giving you  
something too" 

" What?"

" I'm not telling..." said Hermione with a mischievous smile on her face.

" Please..." Harry started to move closer to her, ready to start tickling her. During the last four weeks he had come to realise that she was very sensitive to tickling and the slightest touch would send her into feats of laughter. Somehow she anticipated it and a wand materialised in her hand before he could come any more closer to her.

" Just in case you try anything... I'm sure the ministry will overlook a first offence" said Hermione waving the wand menacingly.

" Okay...Okay.. Gee. What a way to burst a guy's bubble... You wanna get in some flying lessons done before we head inside."

" Okay" came an enthusiastic reply

Harry thought about her progress over the last four weeks. The elderly witch had been kind enough to erect a charm to make sure muggles didn't notice them flying around in the back yard. The progress had been reasonably good. Though she had great reflexes, sources of which Hermione would not elaborate on, she was deftly scared of flying any higher that five feet. This was of a great source of amusement for Harry, though to his credit he did no more than grin when it looked as if the broom might try to go higher than Hermione's tolerance level, amidst her hysterical screaming.

After cleaning up, Harry went to bed with his transfiguration book. Though he was not allowed to do magic, he could read up about his essay topic -"Why do Animagus training have to be carried out in the presence of a ProTem and what is involved in becoming an Animagus."

The book was not really a great source of information -Harry made a mental note to ask Hermione about a better reference.

* WOW! I didn't want to copy her essay... *

Harry could not remember when he went to sleep, only to wake up what seemed to him only seconds later. He was outside his body again. There was no pain, as he passed through the door from his room. He tried to see if Magical things still caused him pain so he tried to touch "Hogwarts: A history" on his desk. He felt a little sting, but the something amazing happened. The book opened to the first page by itself!

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
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	4. CH 04: A New Bookworm & the Gifts

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 4/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 04  
**Chapter Name:** A New Bookworm & the Gifts

It didn't hit Harry until he had read the first twelve pages that the pages of  
the book that the pages were turning by themselves, but then he also remembered  
that Hermione had told her the book had auto page turning charm in it. The book  
must be able to sense his presence when he AstralProjects, Hermione had told him  
that's what Muggles call it on television, though in their one people can see and touch  
them and vice versa. This is a muggle power and there was no Wizarding term for  
it.  
  
As Harry began to read, he did not notice how quickly he seemed to be reading  
the pages, nor did he realise that his brain was actually picking up alot more  
than it usually did. 

It was at eight o'clock in the morning when Harry snapped the book. He had finished  
reading the book, back to back several times, since it was the only book he had with  
a self turning charm in it. 

Harry wished himself to wake up and it usually took about ten minute delays to the   
time he wished to enter his body again to waking up. This time Harry noticed the delay  
was only two minutes.  
  
Harry quickly leaped from his bed, quickly taking off his pyjamas and started  
to collect clothes so that he could get into the shower. It was the last day of  
the long weekend (Queen's Birthday), so the rest of the family was still in  
bed. As Harry left the room, he collided with Paul. He looked suspiciously at  
Harry.  
  
Then Harry realised that he was wearing only his boxers so he quickly wrapped a  
towel around his waist. Paul pleased with himself that he saved his daughter  
from seeing a half-naked man running around the house quickly took off in the  
direction of the kitchen, as it was his turn to cook breakfast that day.  
  
Harry only took a few moments in the shower, as he didn't like to be wet for  
too long. At breakfast all the Granger's had all wished him a Happy Birthday.  
Then Hermione's parents told him they had a gift for him as they handed  
something to him. It was a return ticket to Morocco.   
  
Apparently the whole family was supposed to go, including one of Hermione's  
cousins but at the last moment she had pulled out. So now Harry was bound for  
Morocco. They told him, it was only going to be for a week and they would be  
back a day before school. Harry was ecstatic. He had never travelled overseas  
and now he was going to the mystical Morocco. This almost had him in tears.   
  
Hermione joined in on the conversation and said she choose the location so they  
could research some exotic magical creature for their Care of Magical  
Creatures. Hermione was quick to remind him that in the next three weeks they  
had the monumental task of doing homework essays excluding the one for care of  
magical creatures. Not to mention, house chores, self-imposed extra studies and  
flying lessons to get through.   
  
At this point a swarm of package carrying birds invaded the Granger kitchen.  
Though Mrs. Granger shrieked and ran away, Harry, Hermione and her father  
(though he a little shaken) stayed. There was in total five owls carrying two  
parcels and three letters. 

Harry took the one that had been dropped on his bowl of serial. It had beautifully   
penned writing on the envelop and he was surprised to see it was from Fleur.

  
**To my sister's Saviour**  
Thank you again for saving my sisters life last year. I'm your Defence Against  
Dark Arts teacher this year. I'm sending you this book about the marine-based  
dark creatures. This book will help you next year and there is a section at the  
back that will help you write your homework essay.   
**Many thanks from Fleur**

  
After he finished reading, he looked over the book. It was called "So You need  
to know about SeaMonsters by Ruben Psidong". The next one was from Professor  
Dumboledore, and it was carried to Harry by one of the school's better regal  
looking owls.

****

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY  
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc. Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

****

Dear Mr. Potter  
This is not a birthday card, though it may have appeared at this time. Please  
know that I have arranged for you and Ms. Granger to meet Mr. Ali Pasha. He  
will be your guide to the Magical community in Morocco.   
  
He was one of you father's dear fiends and that you have my blessings for the  
trip. In times such as these it is important to keep international alliances.   
  
Headmaster of Hogwarts  
**Professor A.Dumboledore**

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY  
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc. Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Ps: Happy birthday

  
Harry could not help but smile at the postscript. The next letter was from  
Sirius, as always carries by tropical bird of many colours. Harry couldn't help  
but think that using such birds will end in disaster for Sirius one of these  
days.

  
**Dear Harry**  
I hope you are Ok. Dumboledore told me that you are going out of the country.  
I don't know whether it's a good idea or not, but since he has no objections  
its fine with me. Keep your wand in your hand ALWAYS! The rules about under  
aged wizards are not applicable over there.  
  
You might want to look up one of my friends from my adventuring days. His name  
is Ali Pasha. Last I heard of him, he was selling flying carpet. Just tell him  
PADFOOT said hello.   
Be safe. OWL me if you have a dream.   
**SNUFFLES**

  
  
The next one was from Hagrid and an eagle brought it.

  
**HARRY**  
Hi. Heard yer with Hermione. Well I'm somewhere I can't tell ye. But I'm with  
Madam Maxime. I got good news. I'll write more when I can. I sent ye some of me  
Rock cakes.  
Bye  
**Hagrid**

  
Harry loved Hagrid. He was the man who told him of his real life. He trusted  
Hagrid with his life but he would not eat anything that man made. Mr. Granger  
saw the cake and was about to take a piece (he loved cakes) when both Harry and  
Hermione shouted, "NO!"  
  
Paul Granger was shocked but put the piece down. To demonstrate why they  
stopped him, Harry took his spoon and hit the cake hard making a loud clink  
noise as if it had hit another metal. Mrs. Granger entered the room again when  
she realised that only the snowy owl that belonged to Harry was left. She sat  
herself down next to Hermione and started to quietly finish off the food.   
  
The next one was a big parcel that Hedwig and Pig carried it together. It  
contained sealed envelopes from most of the members and gifts of food and  
clothes from Mrs. Weasley.  
First letter picked out of the parcel was covered in little pink heart that  
moved all over the envelop. Hermione saw it and snatched it away from him. She  
quickly took out the letter and to Harry's embarrassment started to read it out  
loud.   
  
" ooh. Perfumed! Harry! I'm shocked. Why didn't you tell me about your  
grrrlfriend" said Hermione trying intentionally to be annoying.  
  
" It's because, SHE. IS. NOT. MY. GIRLFRIEND!" shouted Harry, surprising both  
Mr & Mrs. Granger. Harry's face was red but he did not try to get the letter  
back. Since it would only make Hermione more determined to nag him about Ginny.  
  
" Lets see what says than...

****

Dear Sweet Harry (**GIGLES ** from Hermione)  
On your birthday, I hope you are well and know that love from me (and my  
family) is there with you. My present to you is in the parcel. See you soon...  
Love 

****

GINNY

  
While Hermione was reading the letter, Harry found and finished reading the  
inscription (from Ginny to H.P.)and the instructions for his present from  
Ginny. It was in a packet covered in similar sort of patterns as the envelop.  
He thought it was a great way to get back at Hermione. He put on the watch. And  
did as the instructions had asked him. He stood up from his chair, and turned  
to look at Hermione. Then he pressed the glass on the watch and spoke.  
"Hello. Bet you're sorry now!"   
  
But it came put in not Harry's voice but a bit deeper, slightly booming voice  
and to top it all off in another ancient language. Hermione jumped back twice  
before hitting the wall behind her. Her parent fell out of their chair and  
scrambled away to what they thought was a safe distance. There was another  
effect that Harry did not see nor hear. His eyes were glowing. Satisfied that  
Hermione was sufficiently and her parent unintentionally scared, he pressed the  
glass on the watch. Once he did, his voice became normal and eyes lost some of  
its glow.  
  
" That's what you get for taking other peoples letter"  
  
From the shocked look on her face it was obvious she did not get it as to how  
Harry had scared her. He held up the watch and said, " the present from GINNY".   
  
Hermione looked embarrassed for not noticing the silly toy. She mumbled  
something about needing to go to the toilet, and headed out of the room with a  
pink face.  
  
Harry noticed that Mr. & Mrs. Granger had already recovered and were back to  
eating their food. He looked apologetically at them, they both gave him a look  
of sympathy at him. Paul Granger actually thought it was a really good joke. It  
wasn't often that he saw his daughter with surprise written all over her face.  
Harry decided he would quickly read the other two letters. First one was from  
Fred & George. 

****

Harry  
Happy Birthday. We're both sorry, you couldn't spend your holidays with us.  
But we hear you're with Hermione. We hope you have a good time there. We were  
not allowed to send you our gift before because of Professor Dumbledore.  
The gift is in the white packet. It looks like a ball with a switch on top.  
When pressed it displays a memory that Ron had of you and your friends. When we  
say you'll love it we mean, you'll laugh your head off.   
Your buddies  
**Fred and George Weasley.**

Harry was a little apprehensive about pressing the switch, but he decided that  
the twins would not give him something really bad on his birthday. Harry held  
the small spherical object as far from his body as humanly possible, before  
pressing the button. A small rectangle appeared out of thin air and it showed  
the event of the fateful day when Barty Crouch masquerading as Professor Moody  
turned Malfoy into a ferret.   
  
While Harry laughed he noticed that a slightly less coloured Hermione had  
entered the room. She too joined in, as Draco Malfoy was her worst enemy.  
Hermione started on her serial again, Harry took out the last letter. He could  
tell by the messy penmanship he could tell it was from Ron. 

****

HARRY  
Did you hear they caught Lucious Malfoy for the using a Flying carpet, but he  
was released by Cornelius Fudge after he donated a lot of money to the  
hospital. Dad was furious and Percy had to be tied to his bed so he did not go  
after Lucious for breaking one of the laws that he helped pass again in the  
ministry.  
I was disappointed when Dumbledore told us you couldn't visit us.   
  
How did you know I was gonna ask about Hermione?- you aren't right I wasn't  
gonna ask you about her at all. What do I care if she went Krum's or not? I'm  
glad, I'm not in your shoes. I feel sorry for you- being told to study all day  
long and doing nothing else. It must be awful.   
  
Well see ya in a few weeks. By the way there is a present for you that I found  
in Diagon Alley.   
Yours  
**Ron Weasley**

Harry put the letter down and started to look for what could be his present  
from Ron. He found it inside one of the folds of the black sleeveless sweater  
with the Griffindor emblem that Mrs. Weasley had knitted. It was a Chocolate  
Frog card to be precise it was a Harry Potter Chocolate frog card. The picture  
was of Harry getting the golden egg from the dragon. Harry was absentmindedly  
looking at the picture when a loud shriek from Hermione interrupted him. Mr &  
Mrs. Granger were scared once again.  
  
" WHAT??... ...What does he think I am? Does he think I'm always studying? ...  
Says he feels sorry for you... Wait till we're on the train...," said a fuming  
Hermione who was reading the letter Harry had deposited on the table. Slightly  
scared Harry slid his chair a back a bit. Hermione continued in a cold and  
almost an evil voice "... yes. The tel'shia curse. That's it... a whole week of  
itching his bottom would sort him out... yessss..."  
  
* Great Merlin! She looks positively evil! * though Harry.  
  
Harry thought of doing a "Hermione" and give her a lecture about reading other  
people's mail but decided against it seeing as her eyes had glazed over and he  
was not sure Hermione was Hermione anymore. Rest of the holidays until the day  
of the trip was pretty uneventful, except for the fact that Hermione kept  
getting messages from Krum, and she would spend half the day dreaming about  
him.   
  
Two days before the trip Harry was just plain fed up and told her to check his  
essays for errors.   
" You're just jealous that I have a boyfriend"  
" Yeah... Whatever. So. Are you going to check my work or not?" though he was  
a bit angry with Hermione for ignoring him for the last few days, he made puppy  
dog eyes at her.

" Yes. Leave it on the desk, I'll do it tonight or in the morning."  
  
Just before lunch Hermione burst out of her room, calling for Harry. Fearing  
something was wrong Harry ran to where the yelling was coming from, wand ready.   
(A/N: He's really paranoid... isn't he)

When he saw Hermione just standing at the entrance to her room he was confused.  
He was going to ask what was wrong, but Hermione spoke first.   
" Look, Who's here?" said Hermione with something in her voice that Harry could not   
identify.

" What? I came as soon as I heard. Why did you call by the way?"  
  
" I didn't have anytime last night to check your essays. So I sit down today to  
find thirty odd scrolls on my desk. And to top it off it you did it! Now I say  
..."  
Harry was getting annoyed and could not help but say, " Get to the point!"

" Well.. Answer this. Did you write all those scrolls?"  
  
" Yes! Of course I did. Unless there is another wizard in this house by the  
same house I wrote the- wait one-minute... Is some thing wrong with my essays."  
Harry panicked. "OH. Great Merlin! What am I gonna do... Oh... It's not long  
till the start of the school. Oh... Maybe..." but Harry did not get to finish  
his panic attack as Hermione rushed over and gave him a big hug.  
  
" I'm so proud of you. You have any idea how surprised I was... The quality of  
research, analogies, anecdotes and even the penmanship..." If Harry had been  
confused before it was nothing compared to what he was feeling at that moment.   
  
" What're you on about?"  
" It's good... too good. Snape is gonna have a fit... he'll give points to  
Griffindor... well... not really.... Not taking any off..." Harry was getting  
more and more confused, so put his hands on her shoulder and shook her hard to  
stop her from babbling.  
  
" Calm down. What. Are. You. Saying?"  
  
In response to Harry's questions, she dragged him into her room. She sat  
herself down on the bed as she shoved Harry into the nearest chair facing her  
bed. 

Harry had been there quite a few times, though they spent most of their time  
studying in his room. Her room had light pink wallpaper with slightly darker  
floral print all over. It was well decorated and in one corner she stored all  
her plush toys from when she was young. The room was always neat and tidy, but  
her bed was a different story altogether. It was littered with Harry's scrolls  
and her schoolbooks which where open in different places.  
  
" There were only spelling mistakes that I had to fix other than that it was  
all well above your usual quality. Look this one..." said Hermione as she  
handed him the essay but did not pause. "... You potions essay was good. A tad  
bit on the short side, but you covered all the points and some not mentioned...  
And here...Your Transfiguration essay it was captivating, fully researched,  
historical anecdotes and good layout. Oh look... there your Charms essay on  
"Kitchen charms and possible dangers to young children" was really good. I  
think you were the only 4th year to choose it. Personally I didn't think you  
could pull it off but I was wrong"  
  
* for someone saying they were wrong she was surprisingly happy * though Harry,  
as he was amazed how confusing Hermione really was to him.   
  
"...Hold these...Defence Against Dark Arts. You wrote twelve scrolls and you  
only had to do six. It was well researched and I especially liked the detailed  
comparison about some common misconception about some creatures. You even  
listed some of the good creatures that are sometimes mistaken as evil. See...  
You worked hard and now you will rip the benefits." Harry was so stunned that  
he did not speak while she was talking. Several times he opened his mouth but  
then closed it soon after. Harry knew he had done more work than usual, but did  
not realise that he had really done quite so well.  
  
Hermione was positively beaming at her accomplishment. She had done the  
impossible task of make Harry like studying. She was well on her way to fix  
"Harry Potter the boy who lived" to be her idea of what he should be -A high  
achiever and someone that the Dark Lord would be afraid off. 

The day of the trip approached very quickly and except for his Care of Magical Creatures  
essay, he had nothing left to do, so he read up on Morocco and practised his  
astral projection. Harry's skill at it actually had decreased from not using it  
enough. He only used it at night to read "Hogwarts: A history." So Harry  
basically had to go through all the pain and suffering he went through to  
become proficient in it again.   
  
Harry remembered to pack his schoolbooks. He wanted to put page-turning charms  
on them as soon as he was in Morocco. Harry had an unexpected thought just  
before they boarded the plane (the Grangers did not want to use Floo powder  
even though it could have been faster and cost them nothing.)  
  
* Wonder how the Dursley's vacation was? *

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	5. CH 05: The Daily Prophet

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 5/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 05  
**Chapter Name:** The Daily Prophet

  
  
Parvati Patil broke down crying when she read the headline in Daily Prophet.  
She was so upset that she didn't even notice that almost everyone was doing the  
same all around her as they waited for the train. Some like Hermione Granger  
and Ron Weasley, who were best friends with Harry were mortified as the moved  
towards the train. People who knew how close those three were, came from all  
direction to offer their condolences.  
  
Parvati was one of the few witches born to wizard houses who didn't get Daily  
Prophet and as such she didn't know the news that had spread across the world  
before it even went to press. " Harry Potter dies Valiantly." Underneath it  
said,   
  
(A/N: I know you guys already know he's alive, but I love this. Read on,  
several hints to the story are here. There is an authors note at the bottom,  
read that @ ur own risk.)   
  
" Today is September 1st and the world was grieving the loss of Harry Potter,  
The Boy who lived. writes T. G. McGinities of Daily Prophet. He died valiantly  
in the desert trying to save his friend and an entire city from the terrible  
magical beast known as the "Nundu". Found in east Africa it is one of the  
rarest of beasts that resembles a muggle leopard but it's not the hunger for  
humans, muggles or magical, but its capability to infect entire villages with  
its potent breath that makes this a nightmarish creature.   
  
Acting on the information received from the Headmaster of Hogwarts Professor  
Albus Dumbledore, the Ministry of Magic in Morocco had started to surround the  
city with protective magic but when the beast attacked prematurely all hope  
seemed to be lost. The few wizards that hadn't panicked and ran away or who  
hadn't lost consciousness were desperately trying to subdue the beast. That is  
when Harry Potter the boy who lived came on a magic carpet with his long time  
friend Ms Hermione Granger. Details are sketchy, as Ms. Granger and some of the  
people on the frontline were too grieved to talk.   
  
From what we know the beast and Mr. Potter disappeared when it looked as though  
the creature was about to attack a large group of wizards. Some eyewitnesses  
report on seeing Mr. Potter glow white before disappearing with a bright white  
flash and supersonic pop noise which shook the entire city.   
  
A search party was sent out once the protection spell was set properly and the  
half eaten carcass of a human body and the creature was found in an abandoned  
Griffins nest five day journey from the original site. The body was severely  
dismembered and missing the head. From the evidence nearby it was determined to  
be of Harry Potter. The evidence in question was his wand, identified by Mr.  
Oliverand and a broken watch identified by Ms. Granger to be a birthday gift  
from one of his many female admirers, Ms. Ginny Weasley sister of the newly  
appointed liaison to Moroccan ministry Weatherby Weasley.  
  
The evidence point to Mr. Potter apparating the beast to the Griffin's nest  
that he was studying for his school homework. As soon as the Griffins spotted  
the pair, they were attacked and eaten. The world it seems is once again in  
debt to Harry Potter last of the Potter family line. We only hope that his  
sacrifice will inspire others to be as brave and valiant in the face of danger.  
There will be commemorative issue of the Daily Prophet printed this afternoon  
available to the public free of charge. It is our way to remember a great hero.   
  
The main funeral will be held on 2nd September at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft  
and Wizardry. Attendance to the funeral will be limited to Students and  
selected close friends only. There will be a public ceremony at Ministry Head  
Quarters at 3:00pm on 3rd September"  
  
When Millicent Bullstrode the slytherin finished reading the paper out loud  
she cried openly. Some of her classmates mostly girls joined in some of the  
boys also tried to console the girls. The majority of the Slytherins were  
celebrating, until a wave of curse from all direction silenced them. Then  
someone pointed something in the sky.  
  
" Is it a bird?" asked Lavender Brown.  
  
" Is it a flying monkey?" asked Cho Chang. (I laughed my own head off writing  
this)  
  
" No. ITS HARRY POTTER!!!, HE'S ALIVE!!! HE'S ALIVE !!! And He's on a FLYING  
CARPET" said Millicent as she jumped in joy. She wasn't the only one who was  
happy, but she was one of the few Slytherins to do so. Their was almost a  
deafening cheer that went across the platform.   
  
* Why do I always have to make grand entrances? * thought Harry as he started  
to remember the events of the last few days....   
  
(This has to be an original start to the story. I feel it's a good beginning.  
I've done this 'cause the story is kind of wordy from now on. Though there is  
some pretty interesting bits to the story.)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Eight days ago, just before he boarded the plane bound for mystical Morocco,  
he had an amusing thought. * Wonder how was the Dursley's vacation? * The story  
continues....  


~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	6. CH 06: Vacation

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 6/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 06  
**Chapter Name:** Vacation

Vernon Dursley was seemingly staring out the window, when he saw his nephew get into a shiny, newish looking BMW. His nephew, was, of course, Harry Potter, the boy who lived. Most witches in his age group (and several outside of it as well) had taken a shine to this fine specimen of a wizard.

"Look at them, Petunia. Them and their kind!" Vernon grumphed. "I bet my set of 2000 drill bits that they never did an honest day's work in their lives." He turned around to look at his wife. She realised she was supposed to do something, and gave an emphatic nod to express her similar opinion. Vernon continued on. "I say...Hawaii. Sun, surf and the sand. Days spent relaxing, nights filled with fun. This is what we love. You work hard, you pour your blood and sweat into your work and you get rewarded."

As a director the only hard work he'd ever done was on the day his secretary was out sick, and he'd had to make his own coffee. Aunt Petunia, in the meantime, had gone to the kitchen to prepare their dinner. She answered Vernon's question of "What's for dinner, sweet pea?", "Steak and kidney pie" over her shoulder.

The drive to the airport the following morning was a quick and uneventful one. They had borrowed a stretch limo taxi to take them there, partly so their luggage could fit in, and partly because Dudley couldn't squeeze into anything smaller.

They arrived two hours before boarding was scheduled to commence, and to Petunia's delight, they visited all the duty free shops, but to her dismay, didn't buy anything..

Once on board the plane, they found Dudley was quite a bit larger than the standard First/Business class seat. As the seats were arranged in groups of four, Dudley occupied two, and his parents had one each. During the seating adjustments, Dudley, being the hormonal teenage boy that he was, noticed how nice the stewardesses all were, and their trim, pert and generally pretty bodies.

After cluing in on the little button on the control panel on his armrest, he kept asking them for small items, just so he could feast his eyes on the women, as they approached, leant over him to make sure he was happy, and left. After noticing his piggy eyes following their every movement, the stewardesses had had enough.

On the eighth call, the young ladies called Martha in. Martha was the head of all the stewardesses, the one who kept things running smoothly in the background.

She was 65 years old-and *very* experienced. She also had a body that could almost, but not quite, rival Dudley's body mass.

"The girls were commenting on the fine young man up in First class, and I thought I'd take a gander meself." she said, smiling. "What would ye like, m'dear?" she leered at him, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Uughh.." Dudley whimpered

"Come on, tell Martha, darling." Martha winked. "You don't need to be shy, y'know."

Dudley managed to form some words, but they were still a little squeaky. "W-w-which way is the b-b-bathroom?" he whispered.

Martha's face fell. "Oh." she said, "Is that all you wanted? The bathroom's that way." she pointed to the back of the cabin. Then, she politely excused herself and made her way back to the little room where she managed the food, drinks, and customer relations. On the way back, she was heard muttering "And there I was, thinking he was wanting some more food and drink..."

After that particularly scarring experience, Dudley did not dare call on the services of the flight attendants again, in fear of the return of Martha. However, in the stewardesses' cabin they broke out the party food and opened one of the bottles of champagne reserved for the First Class passengers. At the end of the flight, Martha was found drunk in her cabin, when there was a *small* dispute between two large ladies, a bag of duty-free perfumes, and a large box of Belgian chocolates. Dudley, however, was perfectly sober. A little shaken, but sober. His parents were surprised at his expression, having had a lovely flight with nice food, champagne, chocolate and a lovely romantic movie.

The plane was delayed, arriving at Honolulu three hours behind schedule-mostly because of weather problems, although there were some rumours about the plane being overloaded.

The Dursleys were as mad as hell, as they had hoped to sleep it off. It seemed as though they were cursed-when they reached their hotel, their room had been given away to another group, as they didn't show up at the expected time. Although the concierge had apologised profusely, he couldn't very well kick the poor people out of their room, and thus, the Dursleys had to take another room for the night. They were definitely not pleased with the new room, either. It had two ("Only two?!?" Dudley had complained) double beds, only one small window, and about the only upside to the room was that it came free, complements of the Management. Since the room was pretty small, and they had virtually nowhere else to go, the Dursleys decided a trip to the beach was in order.

Halfway through the day, Dudley met a young woman (he thought she was around 16, or 18) by the name of Serena Blake. He immediately latched onto her, trying to be a ladies' man. He bought her whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Serena was very "impressed" with the way Dudley so wisely spent his money. For the next five days, people staying at the same resort would wonder what the girl saw in him, since she was a shapley, lithe, blonde, tanned woman, who looked as though she'd stepped straight out of Baywatch. Right down to the bright red bathers. Some slightly more worldly (and cynical) folk would have said "money", others who were more romantically inclined thought that the pair were so cute.

On the Sixth day, though, God created man. or rather, two men, who were quite underhanded in their ways, which included conning people out of money. Serena was one of the few they recruited to get a little bit more cash on the side than what their current car "minding" job did. And so, after Serena met with the two shifty characters, she went over to Dudley's room, and found him sitting on the sofa.

"Hello, Dudley.You're looking fine this morning." she said in a low voice

"Oh. Hi." Dudley replied dejectedly, staring out the window

"What's the matter, my sweet?" Serena asked, putting one hand on his shoulder.

"Oh. My parents have stopped giving me money." Dudley said, showing his empty wallet to her.

"Oh, Dudley! What will we do?" Serena sobbed, wrappering herself around him, and giving Dudley a hug.

"You mean, what will I do. I'm the one with no money and no lunch." Dudley said in a monotone.

"Come with me, Dudleykins, and I'll take you out for a ride. After we do lunch, we can stop by that motel on the beach, and we'll have some special fun...you want to have fun, don't you?", she said, batting her eyelashes. Serena wrapped her arms around Dudley's thick neck once more, and started to move her fingers in small circles on his shoulder. Dudley couldn't resist temptation, and jumped off the sofa.

He barged into his parents' room-luckily, they weren't in there. He opened the drawer that he had seen his mother deposit the money in.

"Wow..." he breathed in reverently as he saw the piles of green notes, just waiting to be taken. He heard a noise coming from the ensuite.

"Oh, sh-" he exclaimed softly, and grabbed a few bundles of notes." Then, he "tiptoed" out to his room, where Serena was waiting.

"Quick!" he said, "my parents are coming!" Dudley pulled Serena out of the room, and together they went downstairs to the foyer.

On arrival, he flicked through the bundles of notes, and roughly estimated that he had about $3000 US. Serena looked around hurriedly.

"Here come your parents, I've got to go." she said, and quickly joined a group of passing tourists. So, Dudley was left alone in the middle of the foyer, next to a (fake) palm tree, clutching a helluva lot of money. He whimpered, and looked for somewhere to go. Then, he had a bright idea. He, too, would join a group of passing tourists and pretend to be one of them as he snuck out of the hotel. Once out the door, he wondered what to do next. He obviously couldn't go back in, and he had no idea where to find Serena. Then it hit him. Well, actually, it pulled him off the sidewalk and stuffed him in a car. Dudley looked at his new surroundings in terror.

"Where am I?" he whimpered, looking at the two muscular, black-suited men sitting on either side of him. He instinctively wanted to get out, even though the car was expensively furnished, in good nick, and had a bottle of champagne thoughtfully iced. Then, the blonde (which Dudley didn't previously notice) who was sitting in the front seat turned around. It was Serena.

As soon as he saw her, Dudley's fears were soothed, and he began to calm down.

"Did you bring the money, Dudley?" asked Serena in a husky voice.

"Oh, yes." he said, trying to sound sexy, but actually sounding rather like a five year old.

"Can we see it, then?" she said, smiling.

"Anything for you, my sweet." he said, as he opened his meaty fist and showed her the wad of money. Then, he deposited the money into her outstretched hand.

"So. Are we gonna go to the motel now?" he asked, after a few moments of silence, when she was counting out the cash.

"Yes. Of course we're going to the motel." Serena smiled. At first, Dudley thought she was looking at him. Then he realized her eyes weren't exactly focused, and that he had two *men* sitting on either side of him.

"However, it'll be with these two guys, Dudley. I'm sorry." she smiled. "We had a nice time together, and you're a sweet guy, but these two promised me a good time." Serena gave Dudley another regretful smile.

"Hey! But you promised!" an angry Dudley tried to jump out of his seat and grab Serena, but the two men restrained him. They gave him one good right hook to the chin, and he was out like a shot bulb.

One of the men grunted and asked Serena "How much is there?"

She grinned and replied, "Three, three and a half. Not bad. Last week it took us a month to get this much."

"Yeah."

"So do you two want your share now, or in the morning?" asked the girl, hinting that maybe they should spend the night doing something other than sleeping

"Split the money here and now, then we go back to our places. You know the rules-no contact for at least three days before the next JOB." Said the taller one, obviously the leader of the group, who regularly preyed on tourists.

When Dudley woke up, he was in the Honolulu General Hospital and it was the day before they were due to leave. Both Vernon and Petunia were furious at finding him in an alleyway in the back streets of Honolulu, and would not stop scolding him. But then, Dudley did what he did best. He started whining about how his parents didn't appreciate him enough, didn't love him enough, and what's more, didn't give him enough money. By the time he was finished, both parents were apologizing and coddling him once again.

Whether or not it was fortunate that the Dursleys had just enough money to get to the airport after they paid the hospital and hotel bills, the Dursleys didn't leave their streak of bad luck behind when they left the USA. Not only did they lose their luggage, they also managed to board the wrong plane (which was bound for Siberia). And then, arriving home after spending two days in subzero temperature, they found their house covered in graffiti, though, but some miracle, not burgled.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
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	7. CH 07: Gremlins on the Wing

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 7/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 07  
**Chapter Name:** Gremlins on the Wing

Harry had never been on a plane, but when he saw the compartment they were supposed to be in, he knew that this trip must have had cost a lot. The compartment was very spacious, with few seats, only half as many as there was in the same area in the economy class, but Harry did not know that. The plush comfortable looking leather seats had a lot of room, both in front and the back. There was big screen that Harry assumed was used for in-flight movies.

* I'll ask her later *, he thought.

The soft carpet and expensive looking lacquered wall, made Harry feel very guilty for accepting the gift that Hermione's parents had given him. It must have had cost them a lot of money, and they had only known him for less than two months. He thought back to the early morning discussion that he had with Hermione about that very morning.

He had expressed his concern over the amount of money that Hermione's parents had paid, but he was surprised to hear that the trip was not going to cost as much since it had been arranged by a friend of the families. When Harry approached their designated seats, Harry was amazed at the number of buttons that were there. He could identify fair few of them easily, the rest looked, well for a lack of a better word odd.

" Which seat do you want Harry?" he asked finding the two designated seats for them.

" Well, I like to see the plane take off..." she said, thinking deeply about the question like she always did, no matter how trivial the question was, "... but since this is your fir trip, you take it this way. I'll take it on the way back." 

She gave him a large smile that warmed his heart. It made him feel oddly enough, safe and secure. He thought about all the times Hermione had smiled like that. There was just so many. It was a good thing, since he had so many miserable things happen to him over the years, he was glad that Hermione wad stood by him through it all. The only time she had made him angry was when she told Professor McGonagall about the firebolt. She had assumed that the Firebolt was a gift from the convicted killer, Sirius Black. His godfather. In truth he did send the broom, but he was innocent.

Harry scolded himself for doubting Hermione. She was always the smartest in their pack. * Ron...*, thought Harry. Well Harry knew that Ron could be a jealous git, but when it really came to the crunch time he was always there, Loyal. His thoughts then turned to the twins. It hadn't been a dull moment in Hogwarts, with them around. It was going to be a shame that they would leave at the end of the year.

Somehow in amongst remembering good times, the image of Cedric at the ball with Cho appeared before his eyes. He remembered wanting Cedric to fall off the face of the earth then. Ironically it had come true, but not without baggage. Though Harry knew, it was not his wish, which resulted in Cedric being dead, he could not help himself but think. 

Harry's thoughts turned to the duel he had with Lord Voldemort, in the graveyard. His mind analysed the information from that day. He wanted to come to conclusion other than the one he had come up with, every day of the week, for the last two months.

Hermione noticed the strange expression on his face. For a while she was unsure of what to do. * He looks scared... No. That's not it. Maybe I should ask him *, she thought, concerned.

" Harry" said Hermione, as she leaned closer to Harry sitting next to her.

" huh..." answered back a puzzled Harry.

" You have this... err.. look on your face. I don't know what you're thinking

but it's making me nervous."

" Oh" said Harry as if that should make her feel better.

" So... tell me."

" Tell you what?" a little clueless. 

(A/N: All that study had to take a toll on him somehow ^_^ ** author laughs at himself for the stupid joke he tried to make **)

" What were you thinking about?" said Hermione as she paused a little waiting for Harry to tell her something, but when he didn't she continued, "I swear I won't tell anyone. Not even-" but Hermione was cut off in mid sentence.

" Okay...Okay...You aren't gonna like this, but I'll tell you anyway" said Harry as he took a big breath before continuing. "I don't think Vold- you-know-who was very strong when he attacked me last year... I already told you that part."

More strange expressions passed Harry's face. "...What I didn't tell you was that how strong he really was. I doubt he had the same powers end of last year as he did when he killed my parents, before he disappeared leaving me behind. Do you want to know what's even worse?"

Hermione tried in vain to sound not to be disturbed by this news, but her counterpart knew her a bit better than she though. 

" What?"

He knew she was afraid when she asked the question, but she would ask it anyway, so that he could get it off his head. Harry thought of dismissing the conversation, but decided that Hermione would think he did not think she was brave enough. " Remember the first year, when we had to get pass fluffy..." Harry paused a second for Hermione to recall the events, before continued. 

"...I think when Vold- you-know-who attacked me last year, he was much weaker than he was back in our first year. He could have had killed me if he waited, but decided waiting too long might give me an opportunity to escape, or give enough time for his death eaters to turn on him. With my protection gone I really wasn't much of a threat to him. I shudder to think how powerful he really can become..."

Hermione gasped at the news. She could hardly bring herself to believe it. If what Harry thought was right then he would not be able to survive an encounter with a fully powered the dark lord, much less defeat him. She had the romanticised idea that Harry would one day be the greatest wizard in the world, but she now started to fear for his life. Her body started to shiver in panic.

When Harry noticed her shiver in panic he gently grabbed her hand and slowly started to caress it in an effort to reassure her. As soon as he started to do this, Hermione felt the panic dissipate, as a wave of warmth start wash over her. Seeing that Hermione had returned to her normal demeanour, Harry stopped and whispered to Hermione.

" Don't worry. Everything will be alright." 

Harry did not give a reason why, or how it was going to be all right. But Hermione believed in him. When final bit of the panic left she joined Harry in watching the three gremlins on the wing of the Aeroplane. Seeing the gremlins caused a flash back...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.... OK. So does anyone know what gremlins are?" asked Professor Lupin.

" Those ugly creatures that go on the wings of aeroplanes and try to crash them..." asked a muggleborn Hufflepuff called Jemi.

"...err...no... close, but not exactly..." Professor Lupin looked around again. Hermione still had her hands up. She was not going to put it down until he asked her.

"... Anyone? ... Anyone but Hermione? There's a prize for the person who can answer it. An extra day at Hogsmede with three other friends".

When no one else put up their hand, Professor Lupin turned to Hermione "...Oh, OK. Hermione, but no trip for you"

Hermione was not unhappy at all, as she put down her hand and said, " Gremlins are fun loving creatures with an odd obsession. They love to get as high as they can off the ground and then jump. They don't have any protective devices to save them from jumping. The reason why was a bit odd to say the least. When they crashed onto the ground below, they split apart into bits. It took them a fair few days, for all the bits to get back together, at which time the they repeat the process all over again."

" Excellent answer Hermione. From what Jemi said, it's clear that a lot of wizards and witches have misconceptions about the..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Hermione relaxed, as much as she could do so under the circumstances, into her seat, she saw Harry take out a book. Hermione knew the book almost intimately; its size, shape and texture were so familiar to her that, had she tried to picture it in her mind she would have no trouble at all. Before she knew it she was asleep, happy in the fact that someone else other than her liked the book to read it when they did not need to. 

Hermione woke up after a few hours in to the journey and there was atleast another hour left of it. Most of the people were sleeping or enjoying the last part of the in-flight movie (You've Got mail). She turned her head to the window to see Harry sleeping comfortably on the seat next to her, his mouth was open a little bit as he was drooling slightly. She could not help but grin a little.

*Something to tease him about * thought Hermione. 

Then she noticed that the pages of the thick book were turning by themselves. The gasp she made caught the attention of the Harry, who was reading the book in his Astral form.

Harry had been so absorbed in his reading of events leading up to the great wizarding war between the Druids of England and Mages of She'orn in the late 1100's, that he did not realise that Hermione was awake. But as soon as he heard her gasp, he regretted not telling her about reading books when he was in AstralProjection. Her face had a mixture of emotions on it ranging from amazement to disbelief to fear. 

Harry made a split second decision to tell Hermione right there and then about it. When he snapped open his eyes, he saw the look on her face had not changed in the time between his waking up and him stopping the projection. He wasn't sure whether or not it was because he had returned to his body, almost instantaneously that her face still held the same expression of fear and disbelief.

" It was me..." he said to softly when he was back.

" Huh?" 

Hermione paid no attention to what Harry had said, so he repeated, " I was reading the book." 

" How?... What did you say?..." even as Hermione said this her brain was rushing to finish analysing what Harry had just told her. Once she realised the implications of his statements she was right royally angry. 

" ... I don't believe this! HARRY POTTER! HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME?" Yelled Hermione, managing to get attention from quite a few people, some sleeping others not. 

" shush...." said Harry, trying to get Hermione to reduce the pitch of her voice. " ...calm down. I only found out a few days ago and I was going to tell you when we got to Morocco." said Harry in a low voice to emphasise the need for secrecy. " Think about it. I can now literally study in my sleep. Besides didn't you wonder why I wanted to I want to do Automatic page turning Charm on all my books?... even the small ones. " Harry paused just long enough for Hermione to think about what he had just said and then stared again before she could ask anything else again. " Hermione... I'm really sorry. I should've told you about it when I foun -" he stopped in mid sentences and the tone of voice suddenly changed into total regret, " I'll do anything... Just name it?"

Hermione was not to be satisfied that easily. She wanted to know exactly when and how he learned that he could (rather the charm could sense him) do this. After about fifteen minutes of grovelling and detailed explanation, Hermione was calm again.

" You know if you had told me before I would have had Mrs. McDougol put those charms on the books" said Hermione. 

" I don't want anyone knowing about my powers just yet." He paused before solemnly saying, "Not even Ron."

Hermione was surprised. * He tells Ron everything. Why would he not want to tell him about the powers... Oh! No! They didn't have another argument did they...but when could they have ha....* 

" Not Ron...Why?" she asked.

" You remember last year... remember when he was acting like a big baby that I got to be a champion and he didn't. I had to risk my life in the first task to get him to realise I didn't put my name in it... I don't want that to happen again... and then there's a chance that Vold-you-know-who would come after me too soon, if he knew I was gaining strength."

" You really thought this through...haven't you?" asked Hermione, amazed at just how much thought the "reckless Harry Potter" had put into thinking about the situation. * Well... You grow up really fast if there was a mad man...no mad thing after you... * thought Hermione bitterly as she looked at Harry. 

" I guess..." said Harry, then he could not resist adding something more, "...you're rubbing off on me."

Hermione gave him a playful punch before the two friends drifted off topic and started to talk about a variety of other subjects. The subjects were as varied as each second to an hour. They also talked about brooms and Quidditch, and Harry was all too happy to fill her in on some of the finer points of the game. Hermione had many misconceptions about the game and Harry was glad to rectify them. 

As time wore on the time for their arrival drew closer. The excitement of exploring a new country could be seen very clearly on Hermione's face, but their landing was a bit bumpy because of the strong winds, but aside from that there was no trouble on the flight.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	8. CH 08: The Carpet Man

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 8/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 08  
**Chapter Name:** The Carpet Man

When cleared through customs and just appeared where families and friends meet, Harry saw someone that he almost instantaneously recognised as a wizard. It was hardly difficult since he had his wand in hand.

The man was tall like Sirius with sharp blue eyes, a small curly moustache and a very easily identifiable scar that was probably left by a dangerous magical beast on his left arm. As soon as the man saw Harry and the rest of the group he rushed over to them with an expression that was of meeting a long time friend after a long separation.

"... Ahh. You must be Harry" said the man is a voice filled with delight.

" Yes. This is my friend Hermione Granger and those two muggles at the checkpoint are her parents. Mr and Mrs. Granger ... Are you Mr. Ali Pasha?"

" Sweet Merlin! You look like the exact duplicate of your father... except for your eyes. They remind me of someone... I just can't remember who." 

Mr. Pasha then seemed to stop in his track and ask in a trembling voice, 

" No! It couldn't be... Did they? - So he realised..." at this point his voice and thoughts became more composed, " Could you tell me the name of your mother please son? "

" My mother's name was Lily Evans- " Harry wanted to ask more about his father but Mr. Pasha interrupted. He started to laugh confusing Harry.

" Excuse me... Why are you laughing?-" He felt insulted that he was laughing at his mother. If Mr. Pasha had kept laughing a little longer he would have had been in trouble. 

" Oh! I knew it. I knew it! Your father... that dope finally got it through his head."

" What did you know? What did he realise? ...." asked Harry very curious to find out more about his father.

" Ok, remember you asked. Your father and I met on a trip that we took together to the Ukrainian forests. We became friends quickly and after the trip I went to Hogwarts until for about a month and a half. Back then they had an exchange program... Well anyway, your father had a friend at school, Lily was her name. She was beautiful, had wild red hair, kind of like her..." said Mr. Pasha pointing at Hermione. 

Harry turned to quickly to Hermione, but then turned back to Mr. Pasha. At this point the whole gang was out of the airport and into a large waiting car, which was even bigger inside. The inside of the car was like a limo. It had two rows of four seats facing each other in the passenger part and the front of the car was reserved for the driver. 

Harry never saw a head in the front seat, so he assumed the car either drove itself or someone very small was driving it. He did not bother to actually find out anything about the car, as he was very much more interested in what Mr. Pasha was saying about his parents. The whole group settled down on comfortable leather seats, and was relaxing in no time at all. 

Hermione blushed when she was compared to Lily Evans. Everyone in the wizarding world knew that Lily was a very beautiful woman and in her days at Hogwarts, she had no shortage of admirers.

Mr. Pasha did not pause, "... Well any way... I knew he was friends with her, I think they were best friends at that time. I thought they loved each other, so

I asked him about it. He vehemently denied that they were anything more than friends and that she had a boyfriend that she was very serious with."

Mr. Pasha had a small grin in his face. "...But I could tell by the way they looked out for one another, the way they talked to each other, I knew that wasn't the case. I told him that, but he didn't believe a word of it..." 

He had a single tear running down his face now. He paused a few seconds, wiping his face with the back of his hand and then continuing. "... Well, Looks like I was right. One day an owl came with their wedding invitation, but it did not have any information about who he was getting married to. I think your father wanted me to come tell him 'I told you so'. Alas I couldn't go. There was a war here at that time-"

" You mean the Shozar Wars?" asked Hermione.

" -yes. Not many people know about the war. It's nothing compared to what

Britain has seen over the years, but it was pretty big here. How did-" Mr.

Pasha stopped looking at Harry and turned his attention to Hermione before going back to Harry.

" Top of every class, sensible, most of the time in the library and a little too caring about the house elves?" it was a question he directed to Harry.

" Yes. How did you know?" asked Harry, as he was very surprised at the accuracy of what he just said. Mr. Pasha looked at Hermione again. His intense gaze was making her a little uncomfortable. 

" I was wrong girl, when I said you were kind of like Lily..." paused Mr. Pasha. Upon hearing this Hermione was a little hurt. A few minutes ago she was compared to one of the most beautiful women the wizarding world had seen and now it was taken back. "... You are her!" He paused a little to let the words sink in with Hermione.

"The same smile, same intelligence, same beauty, and the same hair...well her hair was more on the red side and a lot longer but bushy in the morning if she didn't use the potion. Hell you even have the same sort of little eccentricities about books and elves. It's uncanny really..." then Mr. Pasha looked at Harry and said, "Well... I think I'll talk to you more about your parents later, as I suspect we have reached our destination." Just as soon as he said that the car started to slow down before coming to a full stop soon after. Hermione had never been compared to a legendary beauty (granted that most of her fame was for bearing the boy who lived).

Though Harry and Hermione wanted to know more about Harry's parents, they didn't object to the abrupt end of their conversation. Harry stepped out of the car and looked at Hermione who was beet-red. 

The place that Harry and the rest of the group were taken to was called " Toshok", which is an ancient word for carpet. Mr. Pasha explained how he got into the flying carpet business after the Shozar wars. He cracked a joke about being the number one in his field and how it was very easy since he was the only one who made the flying carpets.

His wife, Mrs. Pasha did not say anything during the car ride but once they all approached the stairs of the house, she took lead.

" Welcome to my humble abode." As she did a small bow and pointed to the closed door. Mr. Granger and Harry were going to follow go in first but Mr. Pasha held them back by their collars. " It's traditional that the women from the family and the guest party enter the house first, then they come out and they can give permission to the their male counter part to enter the house." He explained.

Hermione, her mother and Mrs. Pasha entered the house and closed the door behind them. " ... What if they say we can't come in? Do we stay here for rest of the holidays?" asked Mr. Granger with a little concern in his voice.

" My wife likes to leave me outside until its time for dinner. That way I don't mess up the house" as she tells me. Good thing dinner is only in half an hours time"

" OH! You poor man!" said Mr. Granger, thinking it was actually true.

" No! I'm just joking. I'll take them a few minutes to finish the inspection of the hose. Once they are finished they come out and basically invite us in." At this point the three women come out of the house and tell them to come inside. 

The house amazed Harry. It was not terribly big, but it was decorated well and it felt almost as much like home, just as the Hermione's house did. They talked through dinner and herbal tea afterwards. While Harry and Hermione were shown to their room (two on opposite side of a t-shaped corridor with another room in the middle occupied by Mr and Mrs. Granger), by the house elf much, to the dislike of Hermione. The adults discussed wide range of topics, including the fact that Mrs. Pasha was going to the tour guide for Mr. &Mrs. Granger, since she was a muggle!

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	9. CH 09: Exploding Books

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 9/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 09  
**Chapter Name:** Exploding Books

After they settled into their room Harry opened up his trunk and took out all his books. It took him two trips to take all the books to Hermione's room. He dumped them on the floor and started to skim read the pages of the first volume while Hermione skim read the second volume of the fifth year charms book. Finally they found the charm, which was on the second volume and was the second to last thing in the book. 

" I found it..." she said happily, but then she said something else that made Harry's heart stop, " Ah oh!" 

" What do you mean...Ah Oh!"

" Well... its kind of advanced" replied Hermione. 

" How advanced?" asked Harry sounding still hopeful.

" Pretty advanced since a fifth of the OWL exam asks us to answer detailed questions about one of the last five charms."

" Can't you atleast try..." asked Harry knowing his best friend could do a lot of things that were well beyond her years.

" Yeah. Ok. I'll. Give me the potions book."

" Here it is." Said Harry as he gave Hermione the book.

" ...please let it work. Ok.. Here goes nothing."

Hermione squinted at the page a few times, before she did as per instruction. She tapped her wand on book three times and shouted "rotoo volumnus Aki".

If the spell had worked, there should have been a small golden drop of metal that should have had formed at the end of the wand. Putting the golden drop on the book creates the charm.

" it didn't work" said Hermione a little disappointed.

" Well that's ok. I'll get Professor Dumboledore to do it once I get to Hogwarts. I'm sure he'll be happy to help" said Harry, to comfort her.

" Why don't you try it?"

" Me?" asked Harry incredulously.

" Well, why not? You stopped the dark lord three times. This should be easy."

" You know I'm no good in charms-"

" Harry Potter, you do as I say right now, or there'll be trouble." With a voice that carried more seriousness in it then she intended to.

" OK. OK. Sheesh."

" I only asked you to try" Hermione looked really upset that Harry would decide so quickly not listen to her.

" Well OK. But you can't laugh at me"

" When have I ever done that? Well... except the time you -" Hermione paused to grin at him remembering what happened in the library last year- 

(A/N: This is a fictional event in which a charm terribly backfires)

-but she didn't think it would help to rehash to topic so ".. Okay. Point taken. I wont' laugh if you try to do it and fail."

" Here goes nothing." 

Harry read the instructions carefully several times, from the book before putting it down on the bed next to him. He placed the potions book in front of him. Harry tapped the book twice and closed his eyes. He tapped the book one more time and the book started to levitate very high. 

The whispered the words, but they were slightly different, "Roto-volumnus Aki"

Hermione was surprised to see that book started to levitate. It was not supposed to levitate that high, but she said nothing, as disturbing him can lead to a very big accident. Harry opened his eyes to see that the book was in the air and there was a gleam of gold on the end of the wand. 

As soon as the book touched the golden drop at the end of the wand, it started to expand on the book. Slowly covering the whole book with a golden haze, which grew slightly brighter and then dimmed. This fluctuation went on for a few seconds, with increasing frequency. Then suddenly the book exploded.

Harry thought he had done the spell wrong, but Hermione knew he hadn't. The bits of paper all around them started to float around Harry and started to form a sphere in front of him. In less than ten seconds the book was back, but one corner of the front of the book now had a golden edge protector. 

Happy that he had done a very advanced charm right, he looked up to Hermione to get some praise. He was shocked to see that she was crying silently. He slowly moved next to her and asked, " Why are you crying?"

Hermione stopped long enough to say, " You did it... andd... I... I couldn't..." before she started to cry again, thought this time she was not crying silently.

" I think I know what mistake you made. It's a small one. You weren't reading the spell properly. Here...look at me" said Harry as he paused and used his hand to lift up her chin to force her to look at him. "...Now. Listen. One mistake isn't the end of the world."

Hermione looked at his eyes, and saw how much compassion they held. He handed her his herbology book, and said in a whisper, " Do as I tell you. First tap the book two times and then close your eyes." Hermione followed, " Now imagine the book in front of you, and slowly tap it the final time...Good".

" Now say, 'roto-volumnus Aki', but make sure you say 'roto-volumnus' as one word and then accentuate the 'A' in 'Aki'...ok do it...Good".

The same thing happened with this book like the one Harry had done the spell on. The book exploded a few seconds later and the whole room covered in small pieces of pink paper. It took a little longer this time to form, but it did. Though her success seemed to have had made Hermione feel alot worse than before. 

" Why are you still crying?" said Harry, feeling a bit exasperated.

" ...I..I g-got the spell right..." she snorted and started to cry again. 

Her reasoning made no sense to Harry, and he fought valiantly to stop himself from laughing at the nonsensical statement Hermione had made. It took him a while but he did manage to turn that into a boyish grin. He knew teasing her would be the easiest way for him to stop her from crying.

" I promise next time I have to do an advanced charm I'll fail...OK." asked

Harry.

" Not ok." Replied Hermione. " You worked hard over the summer and I got all those letters from Victor..." she paused to think about Victor before continuing, "... I haven't been studying enough", suddenly very resolute, "That's it. I'll just study more and that'll fix the problem." 

" I think you your problem might be easier to fix then you realise." Grinning broadly he opened the book and pointed at the page... "Look at the book... I bet you can't see a thing."

Hermione squinted at the pages for a few seconds, before giving up.

" Am I right?"

" Yes! But how did you know I've been having trouble reading all summer. I didn't even tell my parents..."

At that point Mrs. Pasha entered the room. She was waiting outside the room to talk to Harry, and had inadvertently heard the conversation regarding Hermione's need for corrective lenses. " Sorry...I couldn't help over hearing you. Did I just hear you say that, someone needed glasses? Because I can help" she said, sitting down next to Hermione on the bed.

" Oh...yeah it's me. I've been having problems focusing. I was gonna tell mom and dad, but with all the homework I forgot." Hermione blushed a little in embarrassment. She knew the real reason and so did Harry. She had forgotten because she daydreamed about Victor.

" Don't worry... We have optometrists here too you know. We can get one of those new contacts for you and-" she looked at Harry, sizing him up. "-don't you need some new ones too?" said Mrs. Pasha pointing at his glasses that were being held together by scotch tape. 

She didn't exactly wait for his answer, but more for a puzzled look to pass over his face. " I have a cousin here who runs an optometrist shop very close to where Ali's taking you tomorrow, if you want I'll tell Ali to take a side trip there."

" Oh thanks. Mrs. Pasha" said Hermione, very pleased.

" Not to worry...err...Harry can I talk to you outside. Alone."

She didn't wait for an answer, as from her tone it was clear that it really wasn't a request, but more like an order. Harry didn't mind complying with her, since not only was she polite in asking, but he was also a guest there. 

Harry shrugged his shoulder to Hermione, and followed Mrs. Pasha out. He closed the door behind him, as he left. Just after he left, he heard a small-scale explosion.

* Hermione's doing them without me! *

Harry desperately wanted to go back to the room and continue with the magic, but he forced himself to stay. Harry didn't have to wait long to find out why he was taken out side. 

" Harry, I don't think you should go into her room, at night time. I know I'm old fashioned and such, but I don't think boyfriends and girlfriends should do that at such an ea-" she stopped talking when she saw, that Harry had just snorted out of laughter. 

" I'm not her boyfriend. She has a boyfriend in Bulgaria, and I'm just a friend. Nothing more." 

" Oh-" realising that she had assumed their behaviour towards each other for more than it was. "Still, I don't think her parents would like it if you two are in the same room at night, alone and the door is closed. In any case leave the door open, that way they won't get agitated. Ok"

" Yeah. Is that it?" he asked, desperately wanting to get back to the room, when he heard another small explosion followed by Hermione's giggle. (* She does more often theses days...*) 

"I really want to get back in there. I haven't done magic for almost two moths now. I can't stand it."

" Before you go, remember what I said. Open door."

" Ok. Thanks." With that Harry went to the room, only to find that Hermione had done all his books except for the DADA and the transfiguration book. He pointed his wand at her and said, " Don't touch those two. I'm doing it those two."

Hermione looked a little disappointed, but she recovered quickly. She wanted see him levitate the book; so far she had only made the book hover a few inches off the ground (that's how much it's supposed to happen, according to the book.) But Harry's had reached to his chest height, and even without looking he did he had tapped the book, in mid air. 

" Ok. So... what do you think we're seeing tomorrow?"

" I don't know..." with that he went back to doing more magic, with Hermione watching all the time. 

For the next hour, Harry and Hermione played with an eagle-feather quill that they kept on transfiguring into different things, just taking pleasure from simple magic. Needle, miniature pig, cat, dog, snake (Hermione freaked out at that one) and unicorns to name a few thing that small eagle-feather had turned into. At the very end of their small game of transfiguring, they managed to turn it into something that looked like a television, but it was actually just a box with glass. 

The ever sensible Hermione, realising their bed time had approached quickly but gently kicked Harry out of the room – by kicking him in his butt when he stood up to leave.

"-aw. That hurt! Did you have to kick me?" said Harry as he massaged his backside.

" Go. I don't think mom will like it much if she sees you here."

" Ok. If I don't wake up tomorrow morning early, just wake me up."

" I will. Just promise me one thing."

" What?" asked Harry

" Don't have a nightmare. I didn't sleep well, on the plane and I need my beauty sleep."

" You look fine to me" as soon as he said that, Harry turned much the same colour that Hermione had turned into when she was compared to Lily Evans. 

" Why, thank you kind sir." Said Hermione batting her eye lashes and with a fake southern accent. They both burst into laughter, getting unwanted attention from Mr and Mrs. Granger, who were just finished with the "adult" talk and now heading for their designated bedroom.

Harry didn't realise it, until he was AstralProjecting that he had left all his books in Hermione's room. Since it would take a long time to get it back and go back to sleep, if she was asleep. He scolded himself for being so stupid, but decided going into Hermione's room was out of the question, because of his promise. He was also very sure that she was fast asleep by then since it took him exceptionally long time that day to get into his Astral form.

So he started to read about Shozar Wars, in his other favourite book that he got from Hermione's personal collection of books. Moroccan magic ministry was very new. Only 13 years! 

Before that two rival clans fought for control. Shozar Sebastian a man belonging to neither group fuelled the fire between the two main clans by killing someone from one group then blaming it on the other. Shozar was a death eater ordered by LORD VOLDEMORT to bring about the destruction of the city most populated by Half-Muggle wizards in the world. Morocco. 

(A/N: My brother tells me Morocco is a country. Since then I've found out that it is indeed a country. Sorry! Please just think of it as a city.)

The magical community was torn asunder, and it was brother against brother. Then both sides, found out that they had been played and a unique system of deciding between the two clans. Every year, a three-day endurance match is to be held from 25th august.

* Hey that's tomorrow... So that's where we're going* thought Harry happily, but his happiness quickly turned into sadness when he read the next paragraph detailing how the voting was carried out. 

The people in the audience judged (only eligible voters were allowed in) which clan they wanted to rule the next year. It was called the Septanic games and it decides the fate of a magical community. Only once in its 16 years the loser of the match was the next rule. 

It happened when the Shoran's (name of the presiding clan's) youngest fighter was terribly injured by one of the fighters for Tozan (opposition clan at the time) in 1988. The entire Shoran force abandoned their fight to save the life of their comrade. Deaths at the games have been very rare. It only occurs when foolish young men do not get off the field, thinking they are invincible. The voters voted for the losers -" But harry was interrupted by an astral projecting Ali Pasha.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
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	10. CH 10: Ali Pasha & the Ukrainian Forest ...

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 10/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 10  
**Chapter Name:** Ali Pasha & the Ukrainian Forest stories

" Hello Harry" said Mr. Pasha.

Harry was so surprised that he jumped off his bed and tried to get his wand laying next to his sleeping body, forgetting that it was impossible for him to do so.

" You know as well as I do, you can't touch anything."

" How do you know?" muttered Harry.

" I'm just like you. It was your mother that passed on the power to you. She initiated James, so he became an observer."

" What do you mean?" asked Harry very confused.

" If you want to understand this you have to listen to me. You have to listen to me very carefully. Sit down on your bed," said Mr. Pasha, as he took a seat.

" It's amazing isn't it. We can seat on chairs and tables or anything else. We don't fall through floors, but we can pass through anything. If we try to move things with those areas of our body we simply pass through them." Harry only nodded.

"Well. Like I was saying.... Like your mother I was a muggle born, and she had the power. I'm not sure how long you've been experimenting with this but I have experimented with it since sixteen. I'm ashamed to admit it but at the beginning I used this power to spy on girls." 

Harry was surprised by the man's honesty, but didn't say anything. 

" I won't use the fact that back then in school "the bird and the bees" fact was not explained as an excuse. I was a sixteen-year-old, with all the things that came with being one. I was curious and I'm fairly certain, regardless whether or not the topic was explained or not in school, I would have had done it.

On my third week, my mother who had the power, found me AstralProjecting into a place shouldn't have had been. She didn't just punish me, she punished me in front of all the girls that I tried to peep on. It was the single most humiliating experience of my life and I learned my lesson then. Well, I better get to the point."

He let out a deep sigh. It looked like he was making a list in his head about what he was going to say. Harry only had to wait a few seconds. 

" The power that we have comes with lots of benefits. For one thing, when you sleep, your brain rests and it's very easy then to learn new things. Problem is you are sleeping, so you can't really learn anything. I know you did the Auto Page turning charm, which by the way took me until my seventh year to figure out, and even then your mother was the one who told me about it – I'm getting ahead of myself. 

" This gift might let you do extra ordinary things like this, but you have to remember not to overexert yourself. That's why at the beginning, more than anything else, it is very important to get a minimum of one good night sleep every week. This prevents you from getting too edgy after a few days of AstralProjecting. There's a way to give the gift to someone worthy. Someone willing to give their life to save you or someone who cares as much for you as you do for them." Mr. Pasha paused.

" Now this is where everything gets a little confusing so I'll try to be as clear as possible... If I know my self it'll be as clear as mud... Don't worry about my rambling, I tend to do that often. There is a way to "INITIATE" someone. That is to say that to give a person the ability to "AstralProject", but they can't pass it onto their children. They can walk through walls, but can't do anything other than that. We have abilities that make us, more than human. Better memory, physical shape... Oh by the way by the time you're gonna be 16 you'll grow to six foot two. Exactly, so, I'm afraid you'll never be as tall as your father was. He was something like six feet six or seven, anyway-it's Accelerated Growth."

Mr. Pasha saw the puzzled look on Harry's face and before Harry could utter a single word to ask him why Mr. Pasha answered him. " I don't know why, but that's the trend... I'm off the topic again. Where was I?"

" We're more than humans..." prompted Harry.

" Oh yes. I don't mean to sound superior or anything, but it's just the way things are. We have better memory, physical conditioning, and something that you don't have the ability to control. The ability to heal our own injuries come very handy...not total healing, just small cuts and bruises. There's some more and I tell you the ones that I know of. There might be more, but no one I know with these sorts of powers has any idea.

" If the person you choose to initiate is a muggle or atleast 1/8th muggle then you don't loose any of your powers. However there is also way to initiate a full-blooded wizard, but it only works on the opposite gender and it come at a great cost. You loose all the powers except for walking through walls. This is what your mother did for your father. She gave up all that, just so he could walk around at night. That's how the –ah - do you know about the map?" 

Harry nodded his head in surprise. 

Harry had assumed that only the marauders knew of its existence. Mr. Pasha continued from where he had left off.

" Well before that power he and his group had discovered only a fraction of it. After she gave him the power, they did the whole castle. He didn't know what she had given up. Not until we met- even then he only knew fraction of the truth." Mr. Pasha sighed. Remembering old days were hard for him. It reminded him too much of the war. Too many good people died in the war. Too many to count. Too many to remember. 

" Like I said before, we met in Ukraine... We were both sleeping on camping ground and decided to go exploring in our sleep. Imagine our surprise when we both get out of our bodies at the same time. I asked him how long had he been doing this. When he told me it had been only for four months that I was surprised. You see, it usually takes about six or seven months before the "Initiated" can actually do it without the help of the person who initiated them. I asked him whether he was a full-blooded wizard. When said he was, I explained to him, what the person gave up, for him to have this power. He had absolutely no idea." Mr. Pasha paused. 

" What did he do then?" asked Harry" Nothing. Neither of us could do anything. We explored the jungle and found some interesting looking creature. When we went to investigate it your father saved my life, but not before the creature left its mark on my left arm." Mr. Pasha rolled his sleeves and revealed the scar that was made by a claw.

" Well I too saved your father with the help of a surprisingly helpful giantess. Well James, ever the adventurous person that he was went into the jungle without me and managed to get himself become the prey for a Chimera."

" Those are kind of like, muggle lions with a scorpions tail and wings. It can't really fly but it uses the wings to glide down from high places. I attacked the beast, but really was getting no where with it, and then out of nowhere a giantess about some fifteen or eighteen feet tall, came and kicked the Chimera right out of sight."

" Really?" asked Harry in disbelief. " I thought they usually ate humans or something..."

" That might be true, but this one seemed different. I'll get back to what I saying before...It was amazing. Well, we both wanted to give her money, but she refused. She even shard her food with us. We got around talking about each of us and when she heard that James went to Hogwarts, she wanted to know if he knew if there was a half giant wizard there?"

" Just that? She just wanted to know if any half giants went to Hogwarts"

" Rather odd that was. Well, James told her there was, but somehow he was expelled, much to her disappointment but then she clapped really hard and it sounded like thunder when, James told her that he was the best grounds keeper Hogwarts ever had. Not to mention the fact that he was very popular with most of the students."

" When we went back to out cam the next day, James promised me that he would see about getting me into Hogwarts for a while as an exchange student. I never did find out how he convinced that headmaster that I should come to Hogwarts, even if it was only for a few months. But I think it might have had something with the fact that everyone was afraid of how the Dark lord was gaining a foothold in the magical communities around the world."

" The day before I was supposed to go back to Morocco, I got a letter telling me I'm supposed to go with James to Hogwarts for a two month period. We celebrated all night long-" Ali Pasha made a drinking motion.

" We were so drunk the next day, we almost missed the train back. It didn't take that long for me to befriend his Marauders and Lily. I was totally fascinated by her. I could never imagine giving up my perks of the power just because a girl was my friend, and there she was who did that."

" It took until the very last day of my stay at Hogwarts, to get her trust. She finally told me why she did that. She made me promise that I won't tell anyone. Her answer was very moving. She told me loosing all the abilities were nothing compared to what she was going to loose at the end of the year. It was the seventh year and last year. They were all going to go their separate ways. Lily wanted to give something to James for all the years of unconditional friendship that James had provided her with from the very first day they met." 

Mr. Pasha wanted to say something but he paused, unsure if he soihould go ahead or not. " Did anyone ever tell you why Lily and James become friends in the first place?"

This was a question that was highly embarrassing for Harry. He had seen photos of his mom and dad, and they looked very close in all of them. This coupled with the fact that everyone always said that they made a very nice couple, he had assumed that they fell in love with each other from the first time they saw each other. 

" err...No. I was given the impression they were in love with each other the first time they saw each other." Said Harry.

(A/N: The history of allowing of Muggle born witches and wizards are totally fictional but a necessary evil.)

" Not so..." Mr. Pasha laughed a dry laugh before continuing with the tale. 

"...The year that Lily Evans came to Hogwarts was the first year Professor Dumboledore was the Headmaster, but it was also the first time after almost a period of 250 years that Muggleborn children were allowed in. Threr was only five of them and only one was in the Gryffindor. Lily was a very timid looking girl with red bushy hair and an easy target for every one who wanted to pick on her."

" After sorting, (the next day) on her way to her first class apparently a huge crowd of students were waiting for to pick on her. The sad part of it was that most of them weren't from Slytherin. They were from Gryffindors." Mr. Pasha paused for the situation to sink into Harry.

" Gryffindor picking on Gryffindors?"

" It was bad times...anyway, your father and his three new friends wiggled past all the people to see what was the centre of all the attention. He was disgusted to find out that all those people were actually picking on one girl. There were five or six people who really were doing the teasing the rest were just watching the show, but your father saw no difference. He went ballistic right there and then started to fire curses and hexes in every direction. For a first year he knew quite a few and he did them all very well. According to Lily, James had sent about twenty boys and girls to the hospital wing. He got a month worth of detention from Professor McGonagall using magic in the corridor, when she finally showed up. Your mother couldn't believe that someone who didn't even know her was willing to get in trouble over her. She fell for him that moment. Thing is your father just thought of her as a friend."

" The marauders actually got started to play pranks on people who had insulted her somehow. Before the end of fifth year, few people even looked at her twice. James and his marauders and there was one other person that Lily came to be friends with in her second year. It was a Slytherin boy by the name of...name of Slap, Snug...er...no. Snape. Yes! That's it... Snape would sometimes talk to her about potion -"

Harry couldn't help and yell at the mention of Snape " Did you say Snape? This wouldn't happen to be Severus Snape would it?"

" Sounds familiar... Yes...Yes... Do you know him?"

" He is my potions teacher" said Harry in a dazed confusion. 

" Well... seems like I haven't lost as many details about Lily and James as I thought. Well, anyway, they used to talk about potions and such things. Sirius hated him but your father liked him. He thought it was good thing that Lily had managed to get herself another friend other than the Marauders. He thought that this would encourage her to be more outgoing. It was getting easier for her then, since the next year several new muggleborn Gryffindors joined."

"She was very good in all her subject. Lily got the highest in everything other than the transfiguration. It made her, even more enemies because of that. So whenever she had free time, she would be with James doing transfiguration. As luck would have it your father was great at it. I myself am into Charms. He would break off dates with all those pretty girls, some of the two years older, just so your mom wouldn't fail transfiguration."

" Lily told me that she didn't think James did it because he felt pity for her, but he did it because he valued her friendship. He did it for her sake. The fool actually thought that he did it because she was a friend. He didn't even see that he was in love with her... Well it was clear to me and Moon..err Lupin"

" -You don't have to worry about that. I know about him since my third year." Said Harry.

" OH OK. At the end of the fifth year she read about an easy potion, to make her hair soft and straight. The day after she became the most popular girl in school, suddenly all the boys wanted to be with her, some of them were older, better looking and even more richer than your father. But she only wanted him. Unfortunately James saw nothing in her to make him think that she was anything other than what she was before."

" What was that?" asked Harry, very curious as to how his father saw his mother, even after she went through a makeover.

" A GOOD friend. After spending almost three-quarters of a year, to get his attention she finally gave up and decided that Snape deserved a shot. That's when she decided to give James the gift as a parting gift."

" Your mom and that Snape fellow apparently dated, until he accused James of trying to kill him. I think this happened a few days before I was supposed to leave. The night before there was an incident where Sirius lead Snape to where Lupin was...you know...but your father saved him. When Snape accused James of trying to kill him, she dumped him right there and then. James was going to, go along with Snape's story too, actually he started to say that he did do that. But she could always see through his lies and this was no exception. She knew James would never do anything like that. He couldn't stand to see Lily unhappy and she knew that James thought Snape made her happy."

There was a long pause that made Harry uncomfortable. Just as he was about to say something, Mr. Pasha started to talk again, " When I heard her story, I was furious. I couldn't believe James didn't see Lily for what she really was and I went back to the dorm punched your father straight in the face a few times to get rid of all the emotions that had built up listening to the story. I told him he had to be the stupidest man alive if he didn't see what Lily did or why she did it. I told him exactly what she gave up. I asked him why he thought he didn't feel any pain for the first four months and then suddenly he had to learn to tolerate it. When he said he didn't think about it; I was ready to murder him." Mr. Pasha looked to see Harry who had a small tear running down his cheek. 

* Good! He understands now why his mother wanted to sacrifice herself than see her son die in front of her. Looks like he understands what she had gone through for her love; never showing pain, never faltering in front of James.* thought Mr. Pasha.

" I told him... because Lily was in her bed screaming in pain. I told him she must really love him to go through all that pain and never even mention it him. I told him I was very surprised that Lily hadn't gone mad, with the amount of metal torture that she must have had gone through, keeping the pain in check when James was off having fun."

" Before I boarded the train I told him to think about a few things. Why would she want to be put through all that pain if she didn't love him? Where hell was he ever going to find a person who knowing they didn't have a chance in hell of getting his attention would go through all the pain and never say any thing? If he didn't feel exactly the same way, why would he always break off dates with older more popular girls just so he could help her with transfiguration? What did she ever give him that those girls that he had dated weren't willing to give him?" He paused to look at Harry. 

Harry could just look back in return, with his face still wet from his last sobbing.

" By the looks of you... I can see that dope finally came to his senses. You know your parents would have been very proud of you. You're their love personified, that's why they were willing to die to save you." There was a hint of sadness at the beginning but it was filled with pride at the end. 

" I heard James with his wife perished, saving their son. Who killed the dark lord. I never knew Lily was his wife. If I had... I would have had cried a hundred times more." As he said this Harry noticed streams of teams were leaving his eyes. After about five minutes he wiped his tears away. 

In that time Harry realised why Snape had it in for him from the time he was in first year. Harry knew his parents got together sometime a few months into their last year meaning that, what Mr. Pasha had told his father must have hit home and he realised his love for Lily. Once Snape saw that those two got together a few days after he got dumped he must have had thought that she had been two-timing him from the beginning. 

" Thanks Mr. Pasha what you just told me answers one question that has been haunting me for the past four years. I can't begin to tell you how much this means to me" 

" No thanks is necessary. I 'm - I'm" Mr. Pasha was sniffling, " I'm just happy they realised how much they really loved each other. Well now on to some more pleasant business I hope... The entire reason I told you everything I know was to tell you all the information you need to know before you start to experiment with your powers any further. I was wondering whether or not you had some one in your mind to become your initiate. So who'll it be, Harry?"

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	11. CH 11: The Gift

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 11/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 11  
**Chapter Name:** The Gift

" That's pretty easy. I want to give it to Hermione. She is smart, and sensible. I would have had given it to Ron, but since he's not a girl I'll -"

" You don't have to justify your choice. It is yours, and your alone. I'll guide you through it." Interrupted Mr. Pasha.

" What do we have to do?"

" First we have to go into her room"

" Wait" he said putting up his hand to show that he wasn't prepared to do it. " I can't do that. I said I'll ask her permission first before I enter her room. We'll tell her tomorrow morning. She'll say yes and we'll go in."

" You can't do that." said Mr. Pasha.

" Why not?" asked Harry, deeply unsettled that he can't do what he wants.

" It won't work if she knows it's a test."

" So I have to break a promise?... No I won't do it."

" You don't see it. Do you? I broke a promise that united your father and mother. Had I kept the promise I had made on my last day at Hogwarts, you would not have had been born. The world would be a hell under the Dark Lord's command. Sometimes the promises that you make have to be broken. Do you think she doesn't want the gift or that she's not going to die for you?

" No! Both Ron and Hermione have always been there for me when I was in grave danger. They were willing to die for me and I don't need a test to see how much they care for me... The have done it in the past and would do it in the future whether or not I give the gift or not." Yelled Harry in anger.

" That's exactly why you have to give the gift. The gift is given to strengthen friendships. Not as a reward. If you two are great friends she'll see that you didn't break the promise, since it was there to stop you from peeping on her. Which is not what we are doing... are we Harry." Asked Mr. Pasha in a soft tone.

" No. You're right." 

" Ok then Lets go into her room." 

Hermione was sleeping in the bed with her whole body covered in a thin blanket and she was sweating profusely. This is when Harry noticed that Hermione had moaned out, " Harry! Don't do it! Don't go after him! Harry!"

" She really cares for you doesn't she. Both her and this Ron person I keep hearing from you two. If he is half the friend Hermione here is he would have had made an excellent initiate. You're truly lucky to have such good friends - well lets get on with it shall we. Put your right hand on her forehead and think about her. Think of the first time you met, the time she helped you, the first time you helped her. Think about the way she - That's it." Cheered Mr. Pasha as he saw the first signs of white glow coming from Harry's hand on Hermione's forehead.

"... Pace yourself, Harry! It'll all happen by itself, you are only a bystander in this play. If she's successful, then it would be done and she'll come out of her body. If she's not you both wake up in your own body, she won't remember a thing.

He was waiting for something to happen when he felt his stomach drop and in an instant the scene changed from Hermione's face to a white room. From where he was he could see the room slowly populated plants trees, people, insects and birds, both magic and muggle. Once all the elements for the scenario had arrived, including two real life statutes of Harry and Voldemort. But they all stood still.

As soon as Hermione came appeared into the scenario everything came to life. It was heart wrenching to see Hermione desperately try and warn Harry (dream person), but when she could not seem to get his attention she did the desperate thing. She raced to head off the curse before it hit dream Harry on the back, when she was close enough, she pushed Harry (dream) out of the way, getting herself hit by the curse for her troubles. She fell to the floor with a sickening thud. 

First Hermione vanished from the scenario, then slowly all elements of the scenario vanished on after the other until only Harry was left in a white room. Then with a spectacular white flash Harry was back to being sitting on her bad and Harry's body glowing in a light shade of green. Then the glow seemed to turn liquid in the air around him and starts to gather mass on top of Hermione's sleeping body in the shape of a small tennis ball. As it gathered Harry could see the sphere bob up and down slightly in the imaginary current, in an imaginary river. 

As minutes past the ball started to diminish in size but at the same time the brightness started to increase at the same rate. When it reached the size of a small coin the sphere could hardly be seen without squinting. Then without warning the small green sphere speeded toward Hermione like a bullet and made impact on her chest. The greenness then started to pass right through her body. Once the greenness had her forehead, Harry could see and imaginary scar shaped leak appear for a second before it disappeared. Hermione coughed and sat up on her bed desperately trying to gasp for air. 

It was weird seeing Hermione both sleeping and sitting up awake from waist up. Hermione came forward and hugged Harry who was still a little shocked. " Oh!

Harry you're alright! I had a nightm- "

Then she noticed the slight green halo on Harry and mistook him for an angel.

" Wait a minute... It wasn't a dream was it? I must be dead! Wow this is so freaky. So you must be my angel. I died in my dream, so I must have died in real life. Where's the white light? How come you don't have a wing and why do you have no white robes on?" said Hermione trying to analyse what had happened.

* Leave it to Hermione to ask death how everything worked. Good thing I'm not death otherwise she might actually get thrown into hell for asking too many question* thought Harry.

Harry went to Hermione and shook her a little with his hands on her shoulder. 

" You're not dead. Hermione"

" Then what's this-" snapped Hermione at Harry before breaking down and crying from the confusion "-I saw you-know-who fire a curse at me-". 

Harry gently pulled her closer and using his right hand slowly lifted up her chin and said, " That was a test. A test to see if you were worthy. I knew you were. But it had to be taken? "

Harry made Hermione even more confused, " What test? What are you talking about?" 

" I can give the ability to AstralProject to one person. I chose you... Well

That's not exactly true. You're the only one that I would seriously consider giving the powers to and ... you were the only one that fit the profile." 

Hermione was speechless and Harry mistook it for more confusion. So he tried to say it more simply, " I gave you the ability to read books in you sleep."

Before he even finished saying it he saw Hermione's face had lit up as if she had jut received 20 years worth of Christmas presents in one day. It was almost the same as the time he had received the Firebolt, her expression was that of pure delight.

" You mean I can do the same things as you. Wow."

" Not exactly. I gave you the ability to AstralProject and that's it. I couldn't give you anything other than that. There are some things you have to know.

First: You can't tell anyone what you know. Not Ron, NOT Victor, NOT your parents, NOT even Professor McGonagall. Not Ever. Is that understood?" He waited for her to Nod or say something to that effect.

" Yes." Hermione looked like she was going to bust with excitement.

" Second: You have to go easy on going through things. I have a good tolerance for pain now. But at the beginning I have to bear all the pain for you phasing through things. After about four or five moths apparently you slowly start to feel the pain from what I have deduced from the stories that Mr. Pasha told me."

" Okay." Replied Hermione who was now walking around in circles around Harry, taking in every detail of his Astral self. 

Bit surprised at Hermione was doing he asked, " Okay... What the hell are you doing!"

" I was just checking out one of my theories..." said Hermione as Harry could have sworn he saw her blush slightly. 

" You already have theories.... Anyway there is one more thing.... Well it's kind of an apology -" said Harry in a voice that was very sincere.

" For what?"

" Ah I broke the promise I made to you... I wasn't supposed to come to your room and I did." Said Harry grinning broadly while he scratched his Astral Head.

" Did you see me naked? Did you see me change my clothes?" asked Hermione whose face was turning deeper shade of red.

Harry vehemently denied that he did any such thing. " No!"

" Well... That's OK then." She said. " I trust you. And that was joke promise anyway. I knew you wouldn't sneak a peek at me. You're not a pervert Harry Potter. At least... I hope not" 

They were close before but then Hermione put her arms around Harry and kissed him on the cheek several times. "That was for giving me the best gift I could have had asked for in my whole life." She pulled herself away from him, before continuing, "You know I've tried to imagine what it was like but It's not really that what I thought it would be like."

Harry was bemused and asked her what she thought it was like. "Well for one thing I imagined you...er... Nothing" she stopped and now she was blushing very red indeed.

Harry couldn't contain himself and from Hermione's level of embarrassment he deduced she probably wouldn't tell him why she was so embarrassed. So he did the next best thing, to asking her politely. He blackmailed her with the promise that he would take the gift away. He didn't know if it was even possible but the bluff worked immediately, as Hermione yielded very quickly.

She answered the question in one breath." Ithoughtyouwalkedaroundnaked! A-andd just didn't tell me so I wouldn't fell uncomfortable around you!" Hermione blushed even more if that was possible.

" You really thought -" Harry started to say it, but broke up in mid sentence laughing, much to Hermione's relief.

At this point Mr. Pasha put his head part way through the door and asked if it was ok to come in. He told them, that they were going to the Septanic games tomorrow. Since they weren't voting they have to sneak in using AstralProjection. So Harry and Hermione better get used to going through wall and magical elements and then he took his head back out again. 

" Well we'd better practice. It's gonna be hell" said Harry.

" Ok. So want do I do. Just stand there and look pretty."

" NO! You're going to go through the walls, metals and magic. We're gonna head to my room. If anything bad happens or I can't stand the pain anymore, I'll wake up. If that happens, you'll automatically wake up. OK."

" So what do -"

" Patience. If it's one thing I've learnt, it's that you have to go very slow.

First-" with that the slow crawl to Harry relearning pain tolerance started again. 

At the beginning the slightest touch by Hermione on anything sent vicious pain right through his body, but by the time Mr. Pasha came to the room in the morning Harry had gone through and almost managed to go through magical object with severe pain. Neither Harry nor Hermione knew that the level of pain that he suffered through to get to that point in his training was something that would others months to do. 

Mr. Pasha knew, it might be possible to accelerate Harry's pain tolerance, if he didn't know that it takes about two to three months to become completely immune to the other person's pain. But even he was surprise to see how far they had gone in only about six hours. He didn't say anything but decided to owl Professor Dumbledore. 

****

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

You were right! Partial truths seem to make his abilities better than they really should be. Today he went through six hours of training with Miss Granger and achieved something that the best of us take one or two months to do.

I think he has figured out the part about why Snape hates his father and him very much. It was a mistake on my part to leak that information, but I think he has greater respect for him now. Though I had to pretend I didn't remember Snape's name.

I would be honoured to take up the Duelling job you had offered me before and as such I have made decided that I will give both him and Miss Granger advanced training during their stay.

I would like to know one thing. Is it just me or is history repeating itself? Miss Granger could almost be a twin of Lily and we all know Harry is very much like James. Is this part of the prophecy or is this simply fate playing a cruel trick on us?

There is still the matter of me brining the flying carpet with me to resolve with the Ministry of Magic in Britain. There is no need for worry at this end, but if it is possible, please exert influence on your side. I would need this equipment often, as I'm unable to ride a broomstick because of an old war injury. 

Sincerely Yours

****

Mr. A. Pasha  
Minister for International Affairs  
Morocco

(Signet Locus of 1st order, Maker of Fine Carpets for  
twelve years, Champion for Freeman Rights, Govan arichect) 

After Mr. Pasha left, Harry re-entered his body and instantly he found himself on the bed. No sooner had he gained his bearings, Hermione burst into the room, jumping right on top of him on the bed and started to hug and kiss him. Had it been any other time, he would have had been confused to find out what exactly was the reason for her sudden shower of affection and concern, but he knew the reason this time. He had to literally push her off him, to talk to her.

Hermione was still full of spirit when Harry had kicked her and she fell to the floor. And that's not the only thing she was full of " How are you feeling? Does it hurt? Do you need a massage? You want me to go and get breakfast -" She was full of concern for Harry.

" It's Ok. The pain isn't there in the morning and besides after a while you grow like it. What's with the thousand questions?"

" Like...Pain " asked Hermione incredulously, looking at Harry as if he was mad. 

" Yes. I know it's a bit strange" replied Harry trying to defend himself, but Hermione cut him off.

" A bit?" retorted Hermione.

" Well, maybe a lot! But the thing is, after a while you become used to it. I just thought of something, and I'm not sure if you'll like it."

" What is it?"

" Well you know Vold- sorry... You-know -" said Harry.

Hermione interrupted, " Harry, you can call him Voldemort." even as she said it she shivered. " But try to use it sparingly..."

He knew Ron would never in a million years agree to say that, no matter how strong Harry got. It was in his blood to call the dark lord, "you-know-who".

" Ok! Voldemort gave me that scar. I haven't had a dream all summer and it looks like he hasn't turned his attention to me yet. When I gave you the power I saw a scar shape appear in your forehead. I'm kind of afraid that you'll get dragged into the nightmare-It is painful, very painful. Specially the first time. If you want I can stop-"

" Don't you dare Harry Potter." said Hermione indignantly, as if Harry had proposed to do something really indecent.

" I always wanted to read all the books in the library and now that I have a chance of memorising all the books, you want to take it away from me. If you do that I'll personally kill you." She said with mock anger, before smiling broadly as she got off the bed. Then she pointed at the bed and told him to stay in it.

" Stay! I'll be right back. Don't move an inch, if you know what's good for you."

" OK"

Five minutes later, Hermione entered the room, with a tray full of food. She had brought enough for five people. She suddenly took on the personality of her mother who like Mrs. Weasley felt that he didn't eat enough. She basically spoon-fed all the food, taking only a little for herself. 

Mr. Pasha had come into the room at that point and told them that they both had an appointment with the optometrists at 10 am. Both of the quickly finished their food and rushed to get ready. Harry was glad he had changed some of this wizarding money into muggle money since he was going to a muggle doctor. The trip was abnormally normal. It only took five minutes through the crowded streets.

When they reached the office, they were moderately surprised. Though there was quite a few people there, their number came up fairly soon. Though Hermione originally wanted contacts, she found a set of glasses that she liked better, and in her opinion were better than contacts. 

She modelled them for Harry, who had to agree with her. It actually made her seem smarter than she already was. Harry did wonder if that was ever possible. She was slightly long sighted; exact opposite of Harry who was short sighted.

As it turned out Harry needed a pair of new glasses anyway. The powers that they had before needed to be replaced with, not something that was more powerful, but something that was of lesser power. But not by much. (After they had finished their shopping, Mr. Pasha explained that it was most likely Harry's self recovery powers kicking in. He told them it was rare, but it was known to happen.) Hermione's barely qualified to be called glasses, since they were of so little in power.

Harry chose the set of glasses with square shaped lens, actually Hermione chose the frames that she thought brought out most of Harry's emerald eyes. Harry found it hard to believe that he needed to have that specific pair of glasses, to bring out his eyes. He did not see the need to change from his old faithful round frames to the new rectangular one that Hermione had chosen for him. He did try to refuse to take them, but Hermione had always a way of making him listen. 

Hermione's were similar but hers were made of glittering silver, instead of the plain black of Harry's. Though she did manage to get Harry to take the fames that she liked, he absolutely refused to take the dark red ones that she had chosen. He settled on getting the plain black one. It was a minor victory. But it was a victory none the less.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	12. CH 12: The Septanic Games

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 12/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 12  
**Chapter Name:** The Septanic Games

When they reached home, Mr. Pasha made them eat enough to last three days, though they were going there for only one day but he liked to take precautions. After that Mr. Pasha lead the way into a secret room that had two entrance one going into Mr. Pasha's bed room the other going into the living room. It had three beds set-up, Harry and Hermione took one next to each other, and Mr. Pasha took the one in the end of the room. 

Mr. Pasha said the games didn't start for another five hours, but he guessed that it would take atleast that long to get there, with Harry carrying most of the pain. Hermione wanted to go back into the house every time she felt Harry's body tense up. Finally Harry snapped and shouted at her.

" I said I'm fine. If you're not going I'm not going. And I WANT TO GO."

Hermione didn't say anything after that, but she cried a lot more. After about half an hour, she would make Harry stop after a few minutes, by making an argument. Harry knew what she was doing and he played along. He knew she wanted to see the games as much as he did, but she didn't want him to go through the pain.

When they finally reached the entrance, Harry was apprehensive. He wasn't sure if there was a magical shield anywhere. He had to be certain, otherwise their journey might finish prematurely. 

He turned to Mr. Pasha, who knew what Harry was thinking so he said, " There was no magical barrier here. You need to show this to enter."

With that Mr. Pasha rolled his sleeve to reveal, a glowing symbol of white and light blue. It looked like the letter 'd' with the bottom of the vertical part extending both ways and ending with an arrowhead.

"Wow! It's beautiful! How did you get it?" asked Hermione.

" Well, it's done when you're fifteen. You choose which of clan you want to belong to. If you're 'Shoran' you get a red arrowhead. If you're 'Tozan' like me you get a blue arrowhead. Shoran clan's magic is mostly influenced by how the ancient mages taught magic, through experience. While the Tozan clan teaches it's magic more along the lines of what they do in Hogwarts. Theory and practical. There are benefits to both system, but... We're wasting timeee -" Mr. Pasha's voice trailed off, just as a loud gong sounded, announcing the beginning of the tournament.

"... We have very little time. Hurry or we'll miss the beginning." He said. They rushed, well as much as they could. As soon as he entered the Dome, Harry felt a nice and warm feeling wash over him, like had just drunk chocolate after seeing a Dementor. This was the moment that Harry realised that he had started to loose the pain. Just so that his skills didn't become rusty, he paced all around the flat surface, where the battle was supposed to be fought.

Harry's eye caught those of an elderly gentleman on the stand for a second. He could have had sworn that man was looking right at him, but dismissed that because no one could ever see him in his Astral form.

" Sonorus" shouted someone, " Welcome to the sixth Septanic Games. I am your commentator, Zed Khan. The games will begin in half a minute. Now a word from our sponsor."

From no where something like what Fred and George had used to display Ron's recollection of Malfoy turning into a ferret showed up. As Harry moved around the screen kept changing direction to face Harry. Harry guessed that the "screen thingy", has the ability to face every one in the stadium, since no one was complaining that the screen suddenly started to move in odd directions.

After about half an hour of commercials, as voters started to file into the stadium, that was much larger than the one where they held the Quidditch cup. Just from the clothes that people wore, Harry could see that this event was much more than just voting for a chosen clan. People wore their best clothes, brought enough money to last through three days of mass shopping and extravagant spending. 

When Harry saw the vendors were handing out pamphlets about the individuals that made up the teams, he wanted to go read one, but AstralProjecting had it's disadvantages. So when Zed Khan, the commentator who reminded Harry of Ludo Bagman, detailed how the three-day event was to be held, a few minutes late, he was ecstatic. 

The first day was the re-enactment of a battle that was fought about thirteen years ago. It was more of a staged battle, rather than an actual fight. This thankfully lasted only half an hour. Then came the real fights. Whole teams against teams, until sunset. The next day the same thing. Then on the very last day was the one which most people were interested in. Not only that was the day people voted, but also that was the day the two best fighters fought until only was conscious. That was the fight that brought in more people on that day from all over Morocco. "-Remember, A voter is there for his country." Finished Zed Khan.

Two lines of contestants entered the arena, following two very oddly dressed women. The two lines of the contestants faced each other, with a hundred meter between them. Contestants for each team dressed the same, except for one at the end of both rows. Harry made his way to where Hermione was and dragged her on to the arena. Hermione hadn't moved from where she was sitting, because she was sure that it would send pain through Harry.

" Come on..." he said.

" It'll hurt you..."

" No it won't. It stopped a while ago.." he said, wiping away one of Hermione's tears.

* She does cry an awful lot when something bad is happening to me...* thought Harry, not sure if he should be happy that he had such a caring friend, or to be angry with himself for causing her so much anguish. Harry promised himself that he would never knowingly do anything, that would hurt Hermione. 

" You really shouldn't cry..."

Hermione used the back of her hands to wipe away the tears in her eyes.

" Is that better?" she said half laughing, half still sad at the pain that she thought he must have been going through a few seconds ago.

" Much..."

It was a bit weird that in astral form there was no need for the use of glasses. Vision was perfect either way. Harry preferred not to have his glasses on in the astral form. He didn't know how to not want it, so he always took them off in his astral form. But Hermione was a different case altogether. She loved the felling she got when pushed them up her nose bridge. This rather odd habit was one that she picked up in matter of minutes from seeing Harry do it, with his new glasses. It was a new sensation to her, and her personality dictated that she explore it fully.

On the other side of the arena, Mr. Pasha was doing something that would have had seemed to Harry and Hermione rather odd. He was softly talking to the elderly man to who Harry's eyes had met briefly. 

" It's him isn't it?" asked Mr. Pasha.

" Yes. Hard to believe isn't it?"

" Are you sure? –I mean it's been a long time, you know?"

" I know –but you can hardly forget someone like him-" there was something in his voice that Mr. Pasha that indicated respect. He could see where it was coming from, but still found it really hard to believe, "- tell me Ali, what would have done if he didn't accelerate this fast in his training –come to think about it, surely you suspected something. Or have you become a lot less sharpen in your civilian life?"

" I'm still as sharp as I ever was and as for the matter of recognising him, it didn't come to me until last night."

" You know what's to come then?"

" Yes. I wish it didn't have to be like this."

" It's for the best and we both know it. You still haven't answered my question"

" I'm the Minister of International affairs, I could have had easily convinced the Minister of Magic to let Harry Potter and his friend to be an exception... after all it is election season."

The elderly man and Mr. Pasha observed not the re-enactment, which was in full swing, but the pair of teenagers running around and animatedly discussing their the things all the people were doing.

" He doesn't know what he is –does he, Minister?"

" How many times do I have to tell you to call me Professor? I don't like that title, that pompous git gave me (referring to the Minister of Magic). If I had a choice I would have had ran the other way."

" As I recall, you did try to run-" said Mr. Pasha ginning.

" Yes. Yes. You don't have to remind me –Anyway, I suspect he is beginning to see his importance -"

Then the two men started to discuss a topic that would have had made no sense to anyone, unless they knew what they were talking about, which no one besides them did.

"-but I wonder how he ended up there. As far as I knew it's impossible to do it for more than two days."

" I know" agreed Mr. Pasha, " Don't you think it's a bit odd...I mean, Harry and that girl with him, Hermione, it's almost like fate reincarnated them to live the life they had missed. Together."

" You know as well as I do that's not the case... but I think someone more powerful than fate is guiding his actions" said Professor Dippet.

" Someone more powerful than fate" Mr. Pasha choked on his own words as he said them, " Who do you think it is? Surely you're not suggesting what I think you are?"

" I am. The prophecy of Merlin's heir in spirit is well known. Not to mention in all the Wizarding cultures its there in some form or another. Surely Merlin would have had left some of his own magic behind to protect him. Atleast until the appointed hour."

" I guess you could be right. That would explain how he got past the two day limit" Mr. Pasha agreed reluctantly.

" I think they were meant for each other -" said Professor Dippet, indicating Harry and Hermione chasing each other around the arena. " –they seem to care deeply for each other. I think those two are the only ones who don't realise it."

" They're going to turn back this way in a few seconds, I have to go" said Mr. Pasha hurriedly, as he made his way back to where he was standing before.

The re-enactment wasn't actually that much fun for either Harry or Hermione, so they decided to have some fun for themselves. The real fun started when the proper battle against each team began. When it did begin, Harry and Hermione were careful not to get close to spell or curses being thrown around, as spells, they were sure would pack a punch a lot stronger that an ordinary magical object. Neither of them wanted to get out of the arena. 

Much to Harry's surprise the Septanic Dueling turned out to be nothing like what he had seen with The Septanic games were nothing but a duelling match combined with hard to hand combat. At first Harry was disappointed, but as time wore on, he began to see the astounding amount of thinking it required a person to do a simple series of attacks.

The games finished for the day at 9:00pm. While Mr. Pasha wanted to go back to the house, Harry and Hermione wanted to stay behind. They had somehow got the idea that it would be a lot of fun if they playacted their own version of the battle. They fought with imaginary wands and duelled for over five hours. At first it was acting, but then as minutes turned into hours, they kept doing the physical ones for real. 

Hermione had had karate lessons when she was young. It was her mom who told her to take that particular hobby up when she was young. According to her mother, "these days it's important for a girl to know how to defend herself."

Because of her back ground in physical fighting, Hermione was the one who was flipping Harry from the very beginning. Harry tried very had not to act like a bull and charge at her at full speed, but never did he manage in all that time that they were there, to pull Hermione to the ground. 

They ended up in quite a few compromising positions (most of the time Harry's Astral self trapped under Hermione's in some kind of paralysing position) but they recomposed themselves quickly. 

At about 4:00am, Harry started to feel slight tingling in his scar. Then without warning, a massive surge of pain made him loose conscience. Harry didn't notice it then but Hermione feeling the same pain, had collapsed shortly after he had. Unknown to both, they were experiencing the same dream from the same viewpoint....

__

They both saw a dark and shadowy valley, with three men...two of them in a cloak and a giant beast in a cage of light that, neither could be certain about what it was. They heard murmuring between, two cloaked and the uncloaked man. They strained their ears to hear what was being said. 

Suddenly the scenery in front of the pair changed. It was almost as if they moved closer to the three people. What they heard chilled both of their blood.

"...Release the beast, Wormtail."

" But master..."

" Are you saying *no* to me...Wormtail -" he said almost enjoying the defiance that his servant was showing him, for he knew that it be a pleasurable experience for him to torture his greatest servant. " -You know the punishment for arguing with me don't you"

" Yes. Master. Punish me. Please..."

" OK. Since you asked so nicely... 'Crucio'" A very loud scream could be heard echoing the valley " ... How was that Wormtail?"

" Very painful, Master. If you like you can do more your lordship." said Wormtail.

" Perhaps later... NOW RELEASE the beast."

The bars of light that made up cage of light flickered and then vanished. The beast let out a growl that sounded a lot like that of a lion. The beast turned to face the three.

" Go. Wormtail...Send Lucius and then go do as I have asked you...Get me what I want."

Lord Voldemort watched as the third man, left without any means of protection, ran for his dear life. Harry and Hermione thought that man hard to be a muggle, since he didn't just apparate out of the situation. 

No matter how fast the man ran, it simply made no difference, because the beast, though still in shadows was atleast three times big. It was a Quadrapedal –or atleast Hermione thought it was one. It caught upto the man in about a second. Once the beast had its prey, the creature made short work of him. It used what Harry thought was its claw to swipe the man to one side of the canyon. The body flew right into the wall and made a thumping noise, before falling to the ground with a sickening noise. The pain in Harry's scar (now shared by Hermione) was becoming unbearable.

The creature of Voldemort then started the task of slicing off bits of the human flesh with it claw and proceeded to eat them. Once in a while it would look up to where Lord Voldemort was and think whether or no it was a wise idea to attack the humanoid creature, who had trapped it in it's confinement for so long.

There was a small pop and Lucius Malfoy appeared next to his master. He immediately went on his knees. Partly because he was afraid of his master, but most likely that he was afraid of the beast in front of him. His new potion allowed him to both kneel in front of his master and allowed him to keep an eye on the beast.

" Malfoy..."

" Yes, master."

" Do you have the centaur?"

" Yes...Yes my lord."

" Good. You'll be glad to know that I've decided to give you the charge of the mission for the end of the year."

Whatever the mission was to be held at the end of the year, it must have been really important, since they could see that Lucius Malfoy was literally bursting with joy.

" Thank you master" though he was happy, he made no move to get up from where he was.

" Come sit by me..." Voldemort patted on the ground next to him, "...we'll see the ending of the muggle at the hand of his creature of darkness"

" As you wish" said Lucius Malfoy as he got up and moved to where his master has told him to sit. He sat there next to his master. He did not feel as good about it as he really thought it would, as the constant thought of how much evil the man next to him was capable of sent shivers through him.

" This was a good idea, Lucius."

" Thank you master" there was tremble in his voice that Lord Voldemort liked very much.

Right then the creature bit and engulfed the head of the muggle in one swift motion. The pain became unbearable for Harry and he woke up screaming.

" AAAAHHHH" cried out both Harry and Hermione in pain, from the secret room.

Had there not been magic to sound proof the whole room, someone from the house would have had heard them. Harry felt something watery in his hands when he touched the scar in pain. When the pain decreased Harry brought his hands down to see that his fingers were covered in small amounts of blood. 

But before his mind could think about the blood, he heard the blood curdling screams that kept coming from Hermione. She was still screaming from the pain in the scar. He quickly got off the bed and rushed to her side.

Harry tried to get her attention, but she was in too much pain to think clearly. He thanked the creator that he wasn't a scrawny little boy anymore. Had he been one, he could never have had done what needed to be done. He quickly picked her up into his arms like a little child and started to run up the stairs. 

When he reached the door leading into Mr. Pasha's bedroom, it exploded outwards showering a sleeping Mr. Pasha with chunks of wood. The sound from the explosion was deafening and woke up the whole house. Mr. Pasha went into battle mode, ready to kill anyone who came through the door, but he relaxed slightly at the view of Harry before hearing Hermione crying out in pain. 

Mr. Pasha might have had some diviner abilities, but he could not see into the future for anything less than a few months time. Even then most of it was always blurry and only a few times had his prediction come true. This was not something he was expecting. 

* He doesn't have his wand... How did he make the door o-oopennn? * His thoughts were interrupted when he saw, Harry was carrying a screaming Hermione.

Mr. Pasha pointed at the bottom edge of the bed and said, " Put her on the bed.".

As Harry followed his order, Mr. Pasha moved quickly to the drawer and got out a blood-coloured potion. He handed the glass container to Harry and told him to pour into her mouth, while he tried to force open her mouth. When her mouth was forced open and the contents vial had been emptied, Hermione stopped moving totally, leading Harry to believe that she was dead. Very soon after he thought this, his mind was quelled by one simple fact, and that was Mr. Pasha had no reason to kill Hermione.

Hermione didn't even breathe, then suddenly her eyes snapped open and she turned her head to the side of the bed and emptied the contents of her stomach on the floor, in one go. Her eyes met those of Harry's for a brief second before she lost consciousness.

" What happened?" asked Mr. Pasha.

Harry explained how they were playacting then he went into his nightmares that are connected to Voldemort. He explained, When he awoke to find Hermione screaming in pain. He brought her up and the door just exploded, by itself. Then he asked a question of his own.

" What was that potion?" asked Harry. 

" Blood of Chimera with a small bark from the tree of life. Takes away any pain a person experiencing while they are asleep."

" Tree of life" Harry's eyebrows went up a bit, knowing that tree of life potions always had some side effect. Like the Wolfsbain potion, which helped to reduce the pain and the length of the transformation, but caused the person to be very sick for a few days after taking the potion. He knew this partially because he did some research in to werewolves after he found out that Professor Lupin was one, but mostly he knew it because Hermione had told him so. 

" –any side effect?" asked Harry.

Mr. Pasha didn't answer the question. 

" Don't worry. She'll be all right. I suppose I should wake up the house-elf" he said, but before he even takes one step, the house elf came in cleaned the carpet, removed most of the bits of the shattered wooden door and even put a little sweet smelling fragrance in the air. The whole process took less that a minute.

Harry apologised to Mr. Pasha and Mrs. Pasha, who had watched the events, for blowing up their door. He explained that weird things like that seemed to happen to him all the time. Mr. Pasha explained that Hermione was okay and that was all that mattered for the time being. 

Harry picked her up in his arms and slowly headed towards her room. Her really didn't want to wake her up by moving too fast, but he was also sure that if he moved any faster he himself would fall over from exhaustion. 

Harry carefully laid Hermione on the bed and sat down on the side of the bed. He stayed there for rest of the night occasionally leaving so that Hermione's mom could come and visit her. Whenever he did so, he would go into the large library of books that Mr. Pasha owned and searched through all of them to find something on the potion that Mr. Pasha had given Hermione. 

Hermione's mother was almost hysterical in her behaviour, and in the end Mr. Pasha with the help of Mrs. Pasha convinced her, that Harry would take care of Hermione for rest of the night. Harry didn't know why, but that simple fact made her go back to her own room, though not before telling Harry to wake them up when Hermione was awake or he was feeling sleepy.

Hermione took her time to wake up the next morning. It was ten o'clock and a full seven hours had passed, since they both shared the nightmare. Her mind was hazy and recollection of the day before was hard. Her body felt so incredibly weak and battered, she thought she might be in bed for rest of the holidays. Her first thoughts were on her unfinished Care of Magical Creature homework, though.

Once her mind focused on the reality around her, she saw that Harry was holding her hand on the bed, with a particularly large book on his lap. But she was surprised to see that his eyes were focused on her face, but then she saw the dried blood on his scar.

* It's been bleeding * thought Hermione before noticing that his emerald green eyes didn't have their usual glow, but the whites of his eyes were blood shot.

" Hermione! You're awake. Your parents just left. I'll be back with -" Harry couldn't move because Hermione had somehow managed to gather up enough energy to grip Harry's hand, which was already in her palm, very tightly.

" Wait..." said Hermione in a cracked voice, emphasising the point that her voice box did not want to be used again after the way she had abused it a few hours ago.

Harry quickly agreed, as he was just content that one of his two best friends was ok again. " OK"

" You stayed here all night didn't you? Uchh..ssk" said Hermione coughing heavily after the question.

" Yeah... It was nothing. I'll get your pare -" He was interrupted by Hermione.

" Will you stop it? I'm not mad at you." Hermione knew Harry thought that she would be mad at him, but she really wasn't. " Tell me... What happened after we were practising those duelling moves? Tell me every single thing you know about it."

" Yes. Well I - we fainted...." and Harry explained what he saw. How woke up seeing with blood from his scar. How he carried her to the door. How somehow the door exploded outwards. How they had to force her to drink the potion. How she had thrown up on the carpet and went unconscious again. How he carried her to the room and had been waiting in the room since then. How her mother had made long visits to see her and had just left the room a few minutes ago to rest a bit, since she had stayed with Harry for two hours before.

" Well that's the story... Anyway... I'm really sorry. You know about the GIFT...I shouldn't have had given it to you. I shouldn't have had told you about the powers-"

" Are we going to have that same conversation again Harry Potter. Give me my wand. I'm gonna kill you and spare Voldemort the trouble..."

Only form the shock on Harry's face did she realise that she had something that made her flinch for a long time. Suddenly Hermione's face lit up like a Christmas tree. 

"... I called him by his name. VOLDEMORT" now she started to laugh as she sat up. " VOL-DE-MORT! VOL-DE-MORT! This is not hard at all. I don't even know why it was hard before."

Then she realised that she had gone off the topic in the middle of the conversation. " ...Now back to the matter at hand. Harry if you even joke about not giving me the gift, I'm going to kill you. GOT IT"

" Yes, MAAM." Some of the glow of his green eyes returned, at the strong sentiment that Hermione had shown about her new gift. 

" Good. Now what do you think Voldemort was doing?" asked Hermione making Harry uneasy. It wasn't easy to hear Hermione say 'Voldemort', since only a few hours ago she would have had flinched at the name. It was only a few more hours before that she had given permission for him to utter the word in front of her, albeit told to do so sparingly. Hearing her utter the word like it was second nature to her would have been weird enough but Harry noticed that Hermione was practically ravelling the experience.

" I don't know, but I sent a message to Professor Dumboledore. I told him about the dream, but nothing else."

" You don't trust him?" asked Hermione, more than a little surprised.

" I do trust him, but Hedwig might get intercepted, you know" reasoned Harry.

" What do we do then? I mean we have to do something."

" Nothing now. We wait. In the mean time, you need to eat. What do you want?"

" What do I want? –Let me see -Anything really. I'm starving, and I don't really care what I eat.

" Wait. I'll get something for you" Harry ran out of the room and went into the kitchen. 

He was only gone for half a minute and he was back with several items of food as well as a large pile of pancakes covered in syrup (Hermione's favourite as he had learned during his stay with the Grangers.) But he wasn't alone. He had told everyone that Hermione was awake.

" Look who I found" said Harry, but before he was finished Hermione's mother rushed to her daughter and started to cuddle her. Harry took the tray and put it down on the bed next to her.

" Mom!" said Hermione, as she came closer to her mother for a hug. She whispered to her mother, " Stop crying! It's embarrassing. I'm OK. It was just-"

" You don't have to explain it dear. We're just happy that you're alive" said Mrs. Granger, after she had force-fed Hermione little bits of pancakes. It took two hours for Hermione to get her parents out of the room. Once they were out and Mr. Pasha was the only one that was left, he spoke up.

" You should find out that I had an ulterior motive showing the Septanic Games. I figured, since you both had the powers so I might as well show you what you'll be learning at Hogwarts next year."

" What do mean?" asked Harry who was beginning to feel a little groggy, which he attributed to staying up all night. 

" The Septanic duelling technique -I'll be teaching it at Hogwarts."

" Why are you telling it to us now?" asked Hermione in her small, adoring voice that she reserved for the teachers.

" I'll give you two some advanced lessons. By the way -Harry I talked (the method I won't tell now) to Professor Dumbledore and unfortunately he doesn't have a clue as to what the beast was. Now both of you have a little rest. Do some exploring around the house...er...Hermione, there are a few little things that I need to tell you...alone." He looked pointedly at Harry, who took the hint and left the room with a banana and a piece of bread in his hand.

As soon as he left, Mr. Pasha became a little apprehensive. He didn't have any children, so he had never needed to talk about this type of a topic to such a young person.

" The side effects are not really visible... May be I should tell my wife and she could tell you -" but his ramblings were interrupted by Hermione.

" You gave me the blood of Chimera. Didn't you?"

" -err. How? - Yes. How did you know?"

" Harry told me. You don't have to tell me, I know the side effects or the lack there of."

" OK. Good. Since you know, I'll go now... I'll send Harry in. I ordered IT and it'll be at Hogwarts in about a two to three weeks time." Though they didn't mention any details about the side effect it was surprising to see the redness in his face.

When Harry arrived she told that Mr. Pasha wanted to explain the consequences of using the blood of Chimera and the tree of life potion. Harry wanted to know what were some of the side effects but seeing that Hermione would only blush at the question he took the hint and stopped asking. There were quite a few reasons for not telling Harry what the side effects, but making it impossible to get pregnant for approximately five years (talk about birth control!) was not the one that made her blush. It was the reason behind it that made her blush.

(A/N: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD I have no idea where that idea came from. ^_^. There wasn't even supposed to be any side effects, but somehow, when I was typing my brain put those nasty ideas to my fingers...what do expect I'M A GUY. I THINK THESE THINGS EVERY 3 MINUTES.... But you do have to admit it's kind of funny).

Hermione wanted to ask Harry about the scar, and decided it was as good as a time as any. " Harry. You know when your scar hurts... How bad is it compared to Cruciatus Curse?"

" er... I'll tell you another time -" said Harry, before getting interrupted by a Hermione who had had enough of being patronised.

" Stop babying me. Just answer it!"

" But -but...." Harry was still very reluctant, but he knew Hermione would pester him until she got the information that she wanted " OH...okay. Remember you asked for it..." Harry paused before continuing after a long sigh, " This is the worse that the scar hurt... even worse than last year when I collapsed. But it's not as bad as the Cruciatus curse or the first time you go through magical objects. My scar hurts sometime more, but the amount of time it hurts has gone down a lot."

They talked a little while longer, before the food was all gone. Unknown to both, Mr. Pasha had mixed, sleeping potions in their food, since they both needed rest. After they finished eating they fell right where they were - Hermione on her bed, while Harry fell face first into his a plate that had the pancakes and syrups in it. 

(A/N: this is one of my top chaps...in terms of how much I like it)

The next day Harry woke up in Hermione's bed, with the bed sheets stuck to his face. * Merlin Help me I'm stuck to the sheets. * As he slowly separated the bed sheet from his face, he looked up to see Hermione's face only inches from his own. * Wow. Who would have had thought she slept this peacefully.* He felt a strange sensation in his stomach, as well as tightening of his chest that he identified as hunger. * Aww man. I need some food. * 

(A/N: Hunger??? A quick question to all you folks pout there.... Do you think it's hunger?... I didn't think so. Harry in my book is great at seeing when people like each other. He just doesn't have a clue when it comes to Hermione or himself.)

Once fully untangled he slowly went to his feet and walked as quietly as possible to the door. But sleeping Hermione wasn't actually sleeping. She had been awake for the last half an hour, peacefully dozing on the bed. Harry's hand froze on the handle, when she said, " Could you close the door properly, when you go. I need some privacy."

" You're awake?" Asked Harry a little surprised.

" Have been for the last half hour. Why?" 

" How come you're still in bed? For that matter -Why didn't you wake me?"

" The sun feels warm. It makes me sleepy" said Hermione as if it explained everything, but Harry just left anyway. He needed a shower; he could almost feel two days of grim on his body.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
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	13. CH 13: The Dueling Lessons & another Nig...

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 13/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 13  
**Chapter Name:** The Dueling Lessons & another Nightmare 

Harry went into the room, and quickly discarded his clothes, and ran into the adjoining shower facility. After the shower, lasting just over half an hour, must have had been the longest one he had ever had, he stepped out of the running hot water and wrapped a towel around his waist. He opened the door to his room and turned to the mirror over the wardrobe. His vision was blurry without his glasses, but he knew where the glasses were and quickly put them on. He wore his navy blue T-shirts and the sweater from Mrs. Weasley with his best pair of black shorts. Harry hurried out of his room so fast he collided straight with Hermione. She lost her balance and was about to fall when Harry caught her. He apologised to her and together they went into the kitchen.

After breakfast Mr. Pasha took them to an adjoining room. It was noting special except for the fact that the floor was bare. Harry and Hermione could feel the cushioning charm on the floor since it felt a bit soft for something that was supposed to be a hard wooden floor. They both assumed that this was where they would receive their Dueling lesson.

" err...OKAY...The Septanic dueling technique is excellent when it come to dealing with a more powerful wizard, though it has its fall backs." Mr. Pasha turned to Hermione and asked. " What's one of them?"

" mmm. I guess it can be tiring against a more powerful wizard. The technique is only good when the opponent is very close."

" Good. You're right. The duelling is very much the same as normal. Except when you get striking range of the opponent, when you have to choose where to hit and what spell to cast with your body in that type of position. Sometimes you have to think a few blows ahead. Now-" he turned to Harry and said, " -you told me you were practising moves before the nightmare incident, I want to see how you two fight."

" Well -It wasn't really practising. Hermione was throwing me around all night long." This comment got Harry a broad smile from Hermione. 

" Is it true?" asked Mr. Pasha, a little disturbed by the fact that Hermione who was several inches shorter that Harry was beating him up. 

Though it really wasn't supposed to matter, but Hermione was both a girl and a few inches shorter than Harry was. But more that that he had thought Harry should have shown a lot more prowess, considering what he had learned and heard from Professor Dippet. "Yes" answered Hermione as if it was normal for Harry Potter to be beaten up by little old her.

" Okay... I want see it" said Mr. Pasha before he snapped his fingers and both of their clothes were replaced with more easy-to-move-in clothes. 

Hermione had three years of experience in karate, so combined with the magic she knew she was almost ready to battle for real. While on the other hand Harry had already fought the most powerful dark wizard and lived to talk about it when many older wizards simply would not have fought him at all, but that didn't mean that he was any good at Dueling. 

Thought both Hermione and Harry knew it wasn't an even match they started to fight. Harry took the early lead by disarming her with magic, but they were supposed to play until only one of them was unconscious or yelled, Mercy. The disarming didn't stop Hermione, if anything it made her loose all inhibition about hitting and/or hurting Harry. She jumped up and kicked him in the chest, hard. The "playing nice stage" was well and truly over and they went at it full force. 

Mr. Pasha stopped the pair often, and told them moves that they should have had done or how to do the move properly to maximise the effect. 

By the time that Mr. Pasha left at 10 at night, both were covered in hexes and curses, Harry was the one who was worse off out of the pair. Mr. Pasha spent ten minutes un-hexing the pair. Their physical cuts and bruises had to heal on their own. He told them to go to sleep early as it will heal their cuts and bruises quicker, though the comment was actually directed at Hermione since Harry's ones had already started to repair themselves. 

Once Mr. Pasha left the two friends sat on the floor and discussed some of the more difficult things they had been taught today, but in the middle of the conversation Harry lost consciousness. 

A man shrouded in a cloak, approached a man on a large serpent throne. Lord Voldemort, Harry assumed...

__

Then there was a sniggering voice that thought sounded a lot like Draco...It was Lucious Malfoy. He said, " Master, the beast Wormtail released will be up on the city by night fall in a three or four days time. Not enough time for them to get ready... It'll be our greatest day when the Mudblood city falls."

Then a cold and eerie voice said, " Excellent job. You planned to do what Shozar my most trusted and obedient servant couldn't. As your reward I want you to co-ordinate the attack. Has he talked yet?..." asked Lord Voldemort.

" No...my lord" Lucius Malfoy was going to say something but before he could, a Cruciatus curse rang through his body.........

Harry woke up from the nightmare clutching to his scar, thanking GOD that Hermione hadn't been in AstralProjection with him. The pain was worse than it had been before... Much worse and he wasn't sure whether Hermione could have had lived through it. When the pain subsided he told Mr. Pasha what happened in the dream. 

(In this story we are led to believe that Morocco, is the place on earth where most of the wizards are half muggles. Shozar Sebastian a death eater was given the task of starting war between half-muggle wizards, so that they might be wiped off the face of the planet.)

" Don't worry. I'll send a message to the ministry, and they'll take care of the beast."

" But I don't know what the beast is. How will they fight it?"

" They'll dispatch all the available wizards to cast a protection spell over the city. It'll stop anything that has been declared as a beast.... Now get some rest!" said Mr. Pasha before he left the room.

Harry paced up and down next to his bed, trying to think of any details about the beast that might help the ministry to better prepare for the attack. 

Harry was so deep in his thought that he didn't hear Hermione ask him several times to stop pacing so she could bandage him. Finally when she had enough she took out her wand and yelled, " Impedimenta". This was a big surprise to Harry who had been too busy to listen to her. Harry didn't say anything when the jinx wore off too quickly, partly because Harry had grown slightly strong over the summer holidays, but it was mostly because Hermione had not tried the curse at full force. 

He let her push him onto the bed and bandage his leaking scar, when he saw the frustration on her face. Hermione was a little too enthusiastic about the task. She wrapped the bandages in a way that made it look like he had his skull fractured in several places. 

When she was finished she noticed that Harry had fallen asleep in her lap as she was bandaging him. Satisfied that she had done a good job (one that Madam Pomfrey would have had been proud of), she gently put down his head on the soft pillow and covered him with the blanket.

Hermione walked slowly to the door and went back to her room.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	14. CH 14: Carpet Ride and Griffin Watching

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 14/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 14  
**Chapter Name:** Carpet Ride and Griffin Watching

The next morning Harry awoke to gentle nudges and a soft voice that belonged to Hermione.

" Harry..." more nudges before, "Harry. Cummon. Wake up"

" I'm up. I'm up." Yelled Harry despite himself.

" Hurry up. It's seven already. We need to get ready."

" Ready for what? WAR!" 

Harry didn't realise why they needed to be up so early.

" Oh, nothing really...unless you don't want to learn how to ride on a flying carpet."

" Did you say 'Flying Carpet'?" when she nodded, Harry literally jumped off the bed and flew into the shower facilities. It took less than five minutes to go through the morning ritual. He brushed his teeth while he was in the shower. Harry quickly got dressed in his best muggle clothes and left the shower. 

When he came out wearing his new glasses he had been using his old ones still since the new ones didn't feel quite right yet) and wet hair almost shocked her to fall backward. 

* That can't be Harry... WOW! He looks good... * Just the thought made her blush. Hermione quickly turned away so that Harry wouldn't see her face. By the time Harry had put on cloak his hair had lost most of its moisture and Hermione had recovered herself.

(A/N: If you thought this story was going to head to H/H direction this soon. I'm sorry. This is more like a physical attraction, and lets face it Hermione might get attracted to a guy because of it, but she hardly is the type fall madly in love with someone because they looked really handsome.)

After breakfast Mr. Pasha took both teenagers to a storeroom, which had been unnoticeable until then (enchanted to be only seen when the person looking for the door knew exactly where it is). The whole room was full of shelves and there was only one wall in the room that didn't have anything in it and when Mr. Pasha murmured something pointing his wand, it simply vanished in front of them.

Harry and Hermione had never seen a wall disappear before, though they had seen some other amazing things happen to them before. Mr. Pasha murmured something and a large red and pale yellow coloured rolled carpet dropped to the floor. It unrolled itself and waited to be boarded.

Mr. Pasha explained that the carpets themselves are not magic and as such can not do anything unless there is a witch or a wizard on the carpet. Harry got on board the carpet as soon as Mr. Pasha told them to do so, but Hermione needed convincing that they weren't going to go too high. Even after that she only sat down on the carpet as opposed her male counterpart who decided that he would stand. 

The three were shown the basics before Mr. Pasha asked Harry to head for the west.

" Rise." Said Harry making the carpet even more rigid then it was before.

" Mr. Pasha... What about muggles? Won't they see us going out?..." asked

Hermione in her adoring voice reserved for teachers.

" I'll come to that Hermione..." asked Hermione.

As soon as the carpet went outside, through the wall that had disappeared, the wall reappeared with a small flash of white light. Once outside the carpet rose to the height of six feet and then there was three flickers a three different charms automatically came to being. Mr. Pasha explained that there was one to hold the riders to the carpet, one to repel other carpets from colliding with each other and one to make them visible only to people on other carpets.

Mr. Pasha spent good part of next five hours giving the two students practical flying lessons. Hermione, who was less confident in a broom. Turned out to be very good at riding on the carpet. Harry thought it was kind of like the situation where some people found it really easy to ride on a motorcycle, but people who were afraid of them were a lot better on cars. 

" Hermione..." said Harry, who was standing next to Hermione at the front while a patient Mr. Pasha sat at the back letting the two teenager in front of him.

" What?" she said, getting nervous because they were very close to their destination, and she really didn't want Harry to get mad at her, because she had ulterior motives.

" You're really good at this. You should consider moving here when you finish school. I bet you can get a job as anything you want"

Hermione turned the brightest shade of red possible for a human being upon receiving the complements. She just hoped that Harry would feel the same way when they go to their destination.

" The reason that we're here is to observe the Griffins." Said Mr. Pasha pointing at two giant creatures that looked like a cross between a lion and an eagle. Just when they said it they hears a loud screech. 

Mr. Pasha explained that the Griffins live in a 'nest' and are very protective of their cubs. That is why one of the parents stays behind, while the other is out hunting. The screech is only a signal that one of the partners is going hunting. 

He also told them that since the Griffins are very sensitive to magic they should stay as far as possible. He told them that if they wanted to spend more time observing griffins they were quite welcome to do so, but he had to go home and await the arrival of messages from Professor Dumbledore. 

He left the pair with food for dinner and emergency port keys that'll take them right into the house. Harry and Hermione observed the behaviour of the Griffins as they both took notes for the Care of Magical Creatures class. 

Hermione was furiously writing her notes down, it was mostly to avoid talking with Harry. She thought because she had partly lied to Harry he was upset with her. On the contrary, Harry was totally fascinated by the Griffins and his silence only reinforced her belief that Harry was indeed upset with her. When Hermione thought that she couldn't stand Harry's silent treatment anymore, she started to speak to him...well actually apologise to him for getting him up in the morning.

Harry explained that the reason he wasn't talking was because the Griffins were so very interesting. Even when they did nothing, they had a mixture of nobility and savageness that really interested him. Hermione was just glad that he wasn't upset with her.

Even the most interesting of the creature becomes boring after a while. Having had enough of the Griffins, herself Hermione agreed to go back. As they approached the city, Hermione, who was the driving the carpet, performed more and more astounding feats in the air. Harry wondered, where she got the sudden urge to perform, neither noticed a big leopard beast that saw them head towards the general direction of the city. (The beast was powerful enough to see right through the invisibility charm)

When they got back they practices duelling...err... No they practised 'pick on Potter', as Harry it seemed had actually grown worse, than he was at the beginning. Hermione took full advantage and for the next hour and a half Harry was thrown around the room like a small but hot potato. 

Harry was actually trying to find a weakness in the method that they fought, unfortunately for Harry she had none that he could find until they finished. Hermione showed Harry some of the moves that she remembered from her karate days and he had to admit she was exceptionally good. 

* I wonder why she never hit Malfoy back for teasing her *, thought Harry, but decided it was probably because she thought that would be lowering herself to Malfoy's level.

The next day was spent fully on Dueling. 

The day after was more interesting. That day started out in a similar fashion as to the one before, but they did duelling practise before Mr. Pasha would let the pair take the Magic Carpet out for a spin. Hermione was severely disappointed and didn't hide it. She liked the freedom the carpet gave her, but more over she liked her adventurous self on the carpet. 

When she was on a broom, it always made her feel a little uneasy but now that she was good at flying, and being able to do all fancy moves she wanted to, she wanted to be out doing it. 

So they quickly went through the lesson. Hermione paid for her lack of attention, as she spent almost all of the first hour on the floor. But after a while her proper personality kicked in and Harry was again falling victim of Hermione's skill. 

* Ouch! Man I was having fun throwing her around for a change and now she's beating the living day lights out of me.... OW!* though Harry as he reacted to the knee in the groin.

" Awhhh! What the f**king hell was that for." Asked Harry as he was still using his two hands to protect his groin from further attack.

" ... Did it hurt?" asked Hermione tentatively.

" No!..." said Harry as he jumped, pinning her to the ground, before he continued "... I was just acting... Well not really... it hurt but not as much as this." 

With that Harry hit her on the face with his elbow making her bleed from her lips. She was pissed, but she couldn't move as Harry had pinned her using one of the moves, she had shown him the day before. 

" Get off me..." said a thoroughly pissed Hermione.

" No..." replied Harry with a tone full of mischief. 

" Get off me... please. This is embarrassing."

" So what?... You kneed my groin! That hurts! Do you have any idea... OOPS!" blushed Harry. 

Hermione felt the grip loosen a little and took her chance at freedom then. She threw him off her fairly easily, then pinned him to the ground and repeated what Harry did on her face. Four times.

" How does it feel now?... HUH" asked a cocky Hermione.

" Pretty good actually... See when the cuts are repaired I get these funny sensations on my face and I love those. Did you really think I couldn't get out of the hold?..." said Harry as he not only threw her off him but also almost making her fly.

It had taken him all of last night to practise in his Astral form. 

" ... oof" moaned Hermione in pain as she landed right on her butt.

It took half a second for Hermione to recover and she was pissed. She literally was in the process of lunging on top of Harry when both of them froze where they were. 

" Okay you two... Break it off. You need to remember you can't get angry. No matter what!" said Mr. Pasha. " So.. I'll leave you two alone and you can either fight for a while or you can go observe those Griffins. I'll leave it up to you to get the details sorted."

Hermione, who was in mid air when Mr. Pasha had stopped their bodies from moving, fell to the floor with a loud thud when he made their bodies unfreeze. Harry couldn't stop himself from laughing and when she came up to him after she had recovered from the abrupt fall she punched the laughing Harry in the stomach knocking the wind right out of him.

" oof." Cried out Harry as he grabbed on to his stomach with one hand and with the other he grabbed one of Hermione's legs as he doubled over and pulled them out from under her. Harry took his wand and pointed at her face....

* What curse is he gonna do now * wondered Hermione in a panic.

But to her surprise Harry didn't curse her. He put one end at the edge of her lip where the blood was still coming out of and started to mutter something under his breath. She felt the tingling start at her lips and then slowly resonating thought her body. As she felt it at different places in her body, she had to use all her mental control to not scream out in pleasure.

* Oh God! I never felt like that before.... WOW! Talk about intense...What's he saying? I have to know the spell.... Awhhh *

" Hermione are you ok?"

" What was that spell?" asked Hermione who couldn't wait to find out the source of the spell.

" OH! It was the one that Rowena used on Goderic...." Harry saw the confused look on Hermione's face so he ventured more information, " ...after the final battle with Salazar."

" I know when they used it... but that's a very powerful spell. I mean... It takes years to master. That's why school nurses have to do three year apprenticeships after they finish school."

" Well. I didn't do it right now did I. Your cheeks weren't supposed to turn pink now are they."

" er...no. But you came very close." Hermione couldn't bring herself to tell him the way the spell made her feel. " Hey! I need a shower and after that we'll take the carpet for a spin. What do say, Harry?"

" I'm game." Came the reply from her back as Hermione made her way across the room still feeling a little light headed.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
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	15. CH 15: The day Harry Potter died

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 15/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 15  
**Chapter Name:** The day Harry Potter died

The beast was supposed to arrive at the city the next afternoon so Harry and Hermione decided that since they had no idea when they might be able to come back and observe the Griffins to take as much information about the creature. The rest of the information they could easily find from reference books. 

They worked together for a long time, before Harry remembered that he wanted to ask Hermione a question. It was about something that he had found in Hermione's textbook. Especially the one on Runes.

" ...er Hermione."

No answer from Hermione as she was furiously writing things down on her scroll.

" Hermione...."

" What?" came the snapped reply from her, since she expected him to ask about the assignment.

" What do you study in Runes? I mean it's the study of old languages right?"

" Why do you wanna know?" replied Hermione with a question, only half paying attention.

" I was thinking about quitting Divination." Said Harry in a bland voice. Hermione's mind lost track of all other though. 

* Finally one of those two morons is coming to his senses. * thought Hermione, but the first thing that came out of her mind was very different.

" If you do that, What's going to happen to my gift?" said Hermione not believing herself for what she had just said. * Why the hell did I say that *

Harry didn't bother answering that question. He knew Hermione wasn't really thinking when she asked the question. She had been trying to get him and Ron to change classes since she quit the class in her third year. 

" I saw these symbols in my head when I was doing the healing spell on you..."

Harry wasn't looking at her, but had he was looking at her, he could have had need her turn into an interesting shade of pink. " -I think they were runes... May be something to do with the ancients. I've never felt power like that before. If I knew what those symbols meant maybe I could get some of that power..."

"... so you can defeat Voldemort" said Hermione without shivering. This was a new twist in Harry's life and one that Harry had started to enjoy immensely.

" Yeah. Don't worry -I'll give the book to Ron. Since I'm not gonna be doing it anymore he'll need the book to keep on top of things. I doubt he'll drop an easy subject and risk loosing owl points in it. Besides I wouldn't let him drop it. He wouldn't be able to pickup anything else this late into the school life."

" I'm pretty sure Professor McGonagall would be delighted to let you change from Divination, but I doubt there'll be any room, but Arithmancy is more fun and only half the class is full..." 

" For now I just want to know what those symbols are. Maybe later I'll know how to control them."

Their musing were interrupted when they saw unnaturally coloured lightning bolts strike down from the sky near the other side of the city. The same thought crept on to their mind at the same time.

" The beast" said both in unison.

Harry had started to say, " We have to get back. I'll drop you off at the house and then I'll -", but was interrupted by Hermione. " Oh no You don't! Harry Potter! I'm not a baby. I'm coming with you." 

Harry wasn't really surprised that she said this. As they flew close to the sand, they left large amounts of sand displaced in their wake. When they were within viewing distance they saw that the attack from the beast was coming from the opposite side of the city. They saw hundreds of Wizard, Witches rush to the other side of the city, most of them were running. They thought about picking up one more passenger, but decided the time to take one passenger could make them arrive two late to help.

Hermione urged the carpet to go fast and when they reached where the attack was taking place they were horrified to see atleast ten wizards and witches dead. Some of them had arms and legs severely damaged, yet the kept up the assault. Hermione wanted to throw up desperately, at the sight of carnage in front of her. It was almost as if Harry could sense how difficult it seemed for Hermione. He told her to take the carpet and spread the word that hundreds more are coming. 

" Were will you be?" she said anxiously.

" On the ground. Go"

" No. I won't let you go."

" I have to. I'll always love you and Ron. Remember that!" With that he kissed

Hermione on the cheek and jumped off the Carpet at the height of over 20 feet.

Hermione thought he was going to die but about half way Harry started to descend slowly, as the hovering charm that Harry used came in to effect.

Hermione was determined to do as Harry had asked her to, she used her wand and yelled "Sonorous", before she started to yell, " Everyone! Re-enforcement is coming" she said as she started to use the carpet to move around near the surface.

Harry descended into the cluster of wizards who were using lightning bolts to attack the beast, but not with any success. Some of the wizards were using spheres of electricity while others used either "Stupefy" or " Impedimenta". 

All this seemed to only make the beast angrier. Harry barged into the conversation of the group and said, " We have to do one thing. And we have to keep it up until there is enough of us."

The oldest in the group was the same person that Harry's eyes had caught him in the arena. His gaze was almost as penetrating as the one the Professor Dumbledore had. It made Harry both uncomfortable and oddly enough reminded him of home. Hogwarts.

The elderly man, Harry could have had sworn he had seen the man before, but he could not remember. He could seethe wise words coming from the youngest among them, but the rest didn't want to be upstaged. They were going to ignore Harry's suggestion, until the old man spoke up. 

" Listen to him. It's a Nundu. It takes more than a hundred trained wizards to subdue one of them. We'll need a hell of lot more amateurs to subdue them. We have no other choice but to keep using one spell (stupefy) to attack it." 

As if they heard the idea for the first time they all agreed. Harry couldn't help but thank the old man.

" Not a problem, Mr. Potter. You have grown. I'm Professor Dippet. We'll talk more soon." 

With that he took off to where everyone was going. There was about a hundred wizards now shouting in unison "Stupefy", but they still needed the reinforcements. 

Harry noticed that the beast was moving closer to where Hermione was shouting that help was coming and they had to hold on. She had stopped to pick up one of the injured wizards into the carpet when the beast saw her alone and vulnerable. It started to move towards her. 

Harry felt a blinding rage that he wouldn't be able to save Hermione and with each second she was moving closer to death. Harry started to feel the same power he had experienced before when he performed the healing spell on Hermione. His body started to glow white. He started to run towards the beast.

Several of the surrounding wizards were so stunned that they stopped performing the stunning curse. Harry yelled, " No! I won't let you take Hermione!"

Hermione turned around in time to see the beast was within a few feet of her, when, something bright white crashed into the beast. There was a big white flash and massive sonic boom that seemed to be an amplified noise of the pop that one hears when someone had just apparated out. She was thrown backwards from the sonic boom as were hundreds more wizards and witches that were there. Most of them were in shock. 

Some had seen Harry glow white and then charge at the beast and most recognised that Harry had apparated out with that magical creature. Thing is they didn't know who the mysterious stranger was, as in the panic no one had seen his scar.

Suddenly Hermione realised that it was Harry. He had apparated with the creature, a feat impossible to do. Suddenly she started to feel panic as she realised that wherever he was, Harry was now alone. Alone with a massive creature that took the life of several wizards and witches. 

" Harry" Yelled Hermione. She had just started to run toward the direction Harry had been running, when someone grabbed her.

" You can't go that way... Ouch" said the man as Hermione bit his arm, but the man didn't let her go.

" Please let me go. I have to find him. I have to find Harry Potter. Please let me go!"

" You mean the Harry Potter. The one the..." he said incredulously.

" Do you know any one else. Please let me go....please..." pleaded Hermione with the young man.

" I'm sorry, but I can't we have to finish the spell. Other wise his sacrifice would have been in vain..." Hermione saw the man cry. No matter what kind of karate trick she tried the man simply disabled her. 

Another man, this one elderly, came to her and asked, " Where's Harry?" It was the man who introduced himself as Professor Dippet to Harry. He looked sad and mortified. " Gather the people still alive. Start the spell immediately. Go. Leave her with me."

The man followed the order without question. As soon as he let go Hermione started to run toward where Harry was heading. But the elderly man said, " He's long gone my dear. You know it. I know it. By this time tomorrow everyone will know it. But remember he did it for you. He did it so you stayed alive. If you go after the beast alone and right now, you'll waste his sacrifice... Do you want his sacrifice to be in vain?" The man paused.

Hermione started to cry and fell to the ground crying. The elderly man put a hand over her head and said, " Once the spell is finished, we'll send out search parties. If he's still alive then we'll get him. But for now you need to sleep...." Hermione was going to argue but the man pointed his wand at her and said " Dormis"

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	16. CH 16: The Dead Body and the Carcass

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 16/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 16  
**Chapter Name:** The Dead Body and the Carcass

Hermione woke up in the morning in the Pasha household. On one side was Sirius, Ron, Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape, on the other side Mrs. Weasley and her mother were crying openly and consoling each other on the chairs near by. Mr. Pasha and Professor Flitwick were discussing something in a low voice. 

Her eyes still didn't get properly focussed, when her mother hugged her very tightly. At first Hermione had trouble remembering what had happened on what she believed was the night before, but then suddenly her mind was flooded with the events.

Actually she had slept for an entire day, because of the strength of the spell. When she looked around she only saw blackened faces with sad expressions. She wanted to ask a question but her voice box would simply not comply.

" ... How are you sweetie?" asked her mother.

Hermione's voice was coming back but it hurt when she asked, " Where's Harry?"

Everyone went blank and started to look to each other as if deciding whether or not to tell her anything. Professor Dumbledore stepped up to her and said, 

" They found his body, his wand, a watch and the carcass of the Nundu near a Griffins nest yesterday. We know it was his.... I'm sorry, Hermione. If I could do something to take away the pain I would..."

Hermione snapped and said, " I don't give a rat's a** what you say... I want to see the body..."

Few hours later when Hermione saw the evidence and the remains of Harry's body she felt as if the world had just ended. She recognised Harry's watch a gift from Ginny to her crush Harry. When she saw the grubby wand she knew it his, but the body that was left didn't have enough to be recognised as Harry. She refused to believe it was Harry's for a long time while her mother consoled her. After a few hours she accepted the fact that Harry was now indeed dead. 

Ron tried several times to console her, but she flat out refused to be touched by anyone other her mother. She closed herself in her room with her mother and together they cried and shared stories about Harry. Mrs. Granger was a very good listener and when she finished analysing her daughter's stories she asked if she loved Harry.

" Love..." Hermione thought about it, " May be... I'm not sure." She paused,

"... I've never thought of him as anything more than a friend. I might have had felt something for him last school year, -but I don't know. I kissed him in the train station... even then it was to comfort him. No.... definitely not. We were friends. That's the way we like it."

Mrs. Granger had a hard time believing her daughter and she knew from experience, first love or true love was hard to identify... even when it's gone. She and her husband were best friends for over fifteen years and never though of each other as anything other than friends. 

Then when her fiancée left her and he was there to console her she realised that she loved Paul more than anything else in her life. It took a long time after that for her to come to terms with the fact that, she was indeed in love with her best friend. It took an even longer time for them to admit their mutual love to each other. But Mrs. Granger didn't tell it to her daughter in case she made the loss seem even bigger and send her off into unrecoverable depression.

The journey back to Britain was hell. The reporters all wanted to know what happened and just before they landed Hermione snapped. She threatened that she would kill the next person who asked her a question and reminded them that she could get away with it if she said she was grieve stricken from the death of her friend Harry Potter the boy who lived.

No one dared mutter another word until she was at the train station on 1st September. That was the first day that she allowed Ron to comfort her. When the entered through the magical barrier she wasn't surprised to see all the people moping about. 

But she was surprised to see that a few of the Slytherins were also moping about. * Not all of 'em are bad * though Hermione as she got into the train. 

(A/N: I don't like the Slytherins but all of 'em can't be bad, if a coward such as Wormtail can be part of the Gryffindors.)

Ron took her trunk inside and Hermione was about to set foot inside the carriage when she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. It was almost as if her whole being was telling her something was going to happen. Something big. Almost instinctively she then looked up into the sky where she saw a small silver glint. 

Then she heard Lavender say, " Is it bird?"

" Is it a flying Monkey?" said Cho. 

* Honestly for a Ravenclaw she is exceptionally stupid * thought Hermione. Hermione knew for a fact that it was a creature that could never exist because of the anatomical problems that have yet to be solved. * No. It's someone in a flying carpet. * Though Hermione. 

But she couldn't recognise the person since she was looking right into the

sunlight. Hermione's heart stopped beating when she heard, Millicent Bullstrode

say " No. ITS HARRY POTTER!!!, HE'S ALIVE!!! HE'S ALIVE !!! And He's on a

FLYING CARPET"

Hermione couldn't even dare to believe it, for if it was a mistake she was going to have to go through the pain all over again. But something inside her made her start to move to where that person was landing. * If this is one of Malfoy's tricks, I'm going to kill him. *, thought Hermione as she moved pass the crowd amidst a loud cheer that went up. * May be it is him *

When she finally waded through all the people that were blocking her she started to cry and run towards Harry. She flung her arms around him and started to kiss his cheek and face like a mother who had just found her lost child after ten years. She didn't care what people thought, nor did she care if Harry was embarrassed. She was happy to have one of her best friends back from the dead and she wanted to show it. 

When Hermione separated herself from him, his face was slightly pink. She also noticed for the first time that Harry was standing in his cloak that he wore two and a half days ago, aside from that his glasses were not there either. 

It was literally shredded, and now almost noting was covering his belly. She could see his chest now sported three deep scars as well as one on his arm. Hermione didn't know it but the smaller scar was the griffins had attacked him.

There was something different about him, almost as if he looked older. But she didn't get to follow that train of thought for long.

Ron had heard the loud cheer that went across the platform and decided to investigate it. He found Hermione next to Harry. * Is that...him? Not it can't

Be!*

" Harry! Harry!" he yelled at the top of his voice getting the attention from Hermione, followed by Harry. Harry smiled and yelled back, " Ron". 

Both Harry and Hermione started to make their way toward their best friend Ron Weasley. Harry put both his arms on Ron's shoulder and looked Ron up and down. He had grown to a six feet figure. Harry was happy that finally he had grown past his tall friend. 

When he finished his inspection, Ron pulled Harry in for a hug. The hug lasted only a fraction of a second, as anything more is looked down upon by others of the male gender. " Good to see you." said Ron, not even noticing the crowd that was around his friend. 

This is the first time that Ron wasn't jealous of his friend. Until that point he had assumed his friend to be dead and now that he was back he was too happy for words. 

" How was you holiday" asked Harry.

" Fine. How was yours?"

" I died. I came back. I got more attention than I wanted at the beginning of the year and I hate Malfoy. All in all.... same as always"

" Let's go inside you two. We're making the train late..." said Hermione.

" Yes... It's going to be a good year. I can feel it." Said Harry as he put his one arm around her and the other around Ron. Once they entered the carriage Ron locked it with a Locking charm, so that no one could enter.

" Hermione.... Where is my wand?" asked Harry.

" It's in my trunk.... I'll get it."

" Too late. It's coming to me...." as soon as he said this Hermione's trunk with clothes in it exploded, showering the room with bits and piece of clothes. The bit of clothes showered the trio, but Harry had erected a shielding charm around himself before he came down from the carpet and so he wasn't covered in pieces of Hermione's clothes.

The same couldn't be said for Ron and Hermione. Hermione was covered in little bits as opposed to big bits or whole clothes like Ron. Ron's had one of Hermione's bras stuck to his face and one of her panties over his shoulder. As soon as he realised what the pieces of clothing were he his face turned the same shade of red as his hair. 

They both looked at where the trunk was to see the wand floating over the mangled cover. The wand made its way across the carriage and into Harry's open palm...

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
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	17. CH 17: The Nutcracker

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 17/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 17  
**Chapter Name:** The Nutcracker

Harry grabbed his floating wand and put it in his right pocket. He then turned to Ron and Hermione, who were mildly mortified at what Harry's wand had

" Wh-What hell was that?" asked Hermione.

" It's like this..." Harry looked at Hermione in the face and said, " Last year after I came back from the resurrection of Vold... sorry... You-Know-Who, Professor Dumbledore cast a spell on."

" What spell? I want the name and people who..." asked Hermione before getting interrupted by Harry.

" Calm down, Hermione. I don't know the correct spell but it was ancient magic." This got a gasp from both Ron and Hermione. They didn't think anyone existed who could perform ancient magic. (A/N: It'll be discussed in book2 : year 6 briefly and most of book3: year7 would be about it) 

"... Well anyway...The spell now makes the wand try to come to me, wherever it is. If I'm in the same room as it is, but I don't have the wand with me."

Hermione was reassured at those words. For the first time since the small explosion Hermione realised that the whole room was covered in small bit of clothing. Harry saw that she was visibly upset about the condition of the room so he offered to help.

" Hermione... Here..." said Harry as he waved his wand and said, 

" Tidus ap'ris"

All the clothes that were in one piece quickly arranged themselves in a neat pile while the damaged clothes started to gather in one spot near the mangled trunk. " Reparo" this time, a bright white light shot out of the wand and repaired the clothes. 

Harry could feel himself losing magical strength as he repaired more and clothes. He knew he was tired from his journey and as such would not be able to fix Hermione's mangled trunk.

" You think you can do it? I'm feeling a bit weak now" asked Harry turning towards Hermione. 

" Ok." Hermione pushed up her glasses up her nose bridge, an action that she had picked up by watching Harry do it too many time. The top student at Hogwarts didn't take long to do it at all. 

When Hermione finished putting away the clothes, Malfoy barged into the room. *

I should have had done the locking charm* thought Hermione looking at Ron. He looked disappointed that his locking charm hadn't been that good. 

" Potter. I see you're still hanging around with Mudbloods and the poverty stricken... Oh I see the Mudblood needs glasses now... First it was the big teeth and now glasses, what's next...adult dippers." 

Malfoy and his gang laughed at his joke. Ron was very unhappy, well, that would be an understatement of the same category as calling Voldemort bad. He was about to jump on Malfoy when Harry grabbed his collar and motioned Hermione towards Malfoy. She had an evil smirk on her face and quite unlike herself she started to walk up to Malfoy.

Hermione said, " Get out, Malfoy. Before you regret it." With such coldness in her voice Ron was surprised.

" What are ya gonna do. Mudblood?" The last part he said like he was spitting out venom.

" That's it." Said Ron and attempted to get away from Harry, but he had enough physical strength to restraint Ron. " Cool it Ron. She's not as defenceless as you think. Just watch." With that he turned back to Hermione, his eyes emanating confidence. 

Hermione said " Just this..." before she kicked Malfoy in the groin. Pain unlike any other Malfoy had experienced before went through his body forcing him to double over on to his knees. She followed through by punching his face once and just when he opened his mouth to scream in pain she put her wand tip right inside his mouth.

" I don't know about you Malfoy..." said Hermione with an evil smile, "... but

I've always wandered what would happen if I released a jet of hot water inside a person's mouth... If don't wanna be a mute then I suggest you leave the compartment immediately."

The other four Slytherins were too shocked to do anything. They were afraid that Hermione was going to turn her attention to them soon. When she didn't and walked away with her back fully turned towards them Harry could see their tiny brains thinking if they should attack Hermione from the back. 

But they forgot all about it when they saw the look on Harry's face. They knew about the incident with the Nundu. Between the two of them, they had just enough intelligence to know that they should not mess with friends, of a person who single-handedly took on one of the most ferocious creatures in the magical world and lived to talk about it. 

Crabbe and Goyle walked up to Draco's body, which was still writhing from the kick in the groins after a full minute and dragged it out of the compartment. 

Ron was very surprised at how Hermione handled herself. Harry let go of Ron, who decided he wanted to complement Hermione on her performance. " Wow that was good. I never knew you -" But Ron was cut off by Harry. 

" How come you didn't hurt him worse? I mean you could have had made him pay... with all you know you could have had him on a hospital bed for most of the year" said Harry who was puzzled at the situation. 

" If I did that you know they would have had expelled me... hello! So how did you two like my performance?"

Ron answered first, " As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by Harry here..." he pointed at Harry, " ... That was very great. Er... What was all that about you knowing enough to put Malfoy in hospital for rest of the year?"

Harry and Hermione explained that this year in light of the dark lord coming back to power the headmaster had arranged it so that students could learn Septanic Dueling. He told them how they had seen the first day of the games and how they practised moves at night (missing the part about being in astral projection). 

Hermione took over the conversation after this part and explained that Harry had a nightmare regarding the beast and how they warned the ministry. Ron asked Harry to take over the story wen Hermione continuously referred to You-Know-Who as Voldemort. This was a new horrific development for Hermione. Once they came to the part about the battle Harry stopped talking. Hermione took the hint and asked Harry, 

" So... You didn't answer my question before."

" Which one?" asked Harry.

" How did you two like my performance?" 

" Same as always... bland and dull" said Harry, with a mischievous smile on his face. 

Hermione tried to punch him in the stomach in retaliation to his comments but Harry sidestepped her, causing her to miss and hit Ron instead. Ron wasn't expecting anything like that and as such absorbed the full impact of the punch.

"OOOF" he cried. Harry on the other hand was expecting this and took counter measures. So when Hermione threw the second punch Harry grabbed her arm and bent it on her back using one hand and trapping her other hand by wrapping his other arm around her arm and waist. 

" Tsk..tsk." said Harry whispering into her ears. " Hermione you really didn't think I was going to fall for the same trick again. Did you?"

" Hey what are you guys talking about?" asked Ron who was still patting his stomach after the punch. He had heard Harry whisper something but didn't really catch what was said. Harry turned to Ron and replied. 

" You see in the Holidays when Mr. Pasha gave us Dueling lessons she'd always hit me when I wasn't on my guard. I think beating up boys has become almost as much fun for her as studying... " 

Hermione blushed a little. It was partly true... for some strange reason it was fun for her when she fought boys...well actually beat the living daylights out of them. Hermione did notice that the adrenaline rush when she beat up Malfoy was nowhere as high as she usually felt when she was fighting Harry. 

Harry's quick recovery power meant that her beatings were actually less effective so she could always fight him without holding anything back, knowing he would take it all in his stride... well take it better than most people. A girl she maybe, but a push over she wasn't. 

(A/N: Hermione is my fav character, then Harry, then Professor Dumbledore, then Professor Snape, ....everyone else...., Lord Voldemort, Ron, Malfoy.) 

" Yeah... well if you guys weren't so soft then I wouldn't.... aow..aow...". 

Harry pushed her arm further up making her arm hurt. She had to arch her back to lessen the pain from the new position. Harry wanted this banter fight to keep going but he felt himself getting weaker and as such decided that he would pick it up when he was feeling better. " You really shouldn't say things like that...Ok. I'll let you go, but promise me you'll not hit either one of us again for the trip."

" Ok." Replied Hermione a little too quickly.

Harry should have been more careful when she agreed so quickly... too quickly, but he didn't. She turned around quickly to punch him on his face but Harry moved his head back on reflex and she missed him. Since Hermione hadn't positioned her body properly she lost balance when she missed the punch and Harry had to grab her to save her from hitting the floor. " You OK." Asked Ron as he extricated her from Harry's arms.

Harry had quite enough of the fight and said, " Are you quite done, Hermione?... because I really need to rest after the long trip..."

The rest of the comment was mumbled. Though Hermione and Ron managed to pick up that it was something to do with three spells and a carpet not being a carpet. Hermione and Ron dismissed those comments as ramblings of a weakened wizard.

Five minutes later when Harry was asleep on one of the long seats. Hermione sat down Next to his head and lifted his neck up to slide her leg underneath his head. Harry's face before this point looked to be restless but once she started to stroke his hair, he seemed to relax. What she was doing was similar to what her mother had done, when Hermione was grieving for her best friend. 

Ron saw this, but said nothing to indicate either his jealousy or anger towards Harry for being the centre of attention from the girl that he liked. Neither Hermione nor Ron spoke to each other even when they shared sweets. Hermione kept some to give to Harry when he woke up.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	18. CH 18: Winking at Potter

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 18/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 18  
**Chapter Name:** Winking at Potter

Harry woke up to find himself inside the horse-less carriage. He was a bit surprised to see that he was sleeping on Hermione's lap and her hand in his hair. * Hagrid must have put me in here * thought Harry. He tried to move his head slightly so he wouldn't wake up Hermione. But he need not have had worried about it since Hermione was actually awake. 

" You're awake!" said Hermione. 

" Sorry..." Harry looked apologetic, " I woke you.."

" Don't worry. I wasn't asleep.." she started to fumble in her pocket for something. After about a minute she found what she was looking for. They were sweets that Hermione had saved for Harry. Harry was ravished and welcomed anything edible... even if it was an every flavoured bean. Though the first one tasted like 'rust' Harry ate it anyway. He noticed that Ron was on the other side of the carriage and was sleeping. 

" How long have we been in the carriage?" he asked curious to find out how much longer to his home... the castle.

" Hagrid just put you in here. You really were tired weren't you?"

" Yeah. The journey from Morocco... well it was long."

" Are you still tired?" she asked, very concerned.

" No. I'm fine now... Thanks for saving these for me." Harry noticed that

Hermione was crying silently and his heart stopped.

" What happened? Did Malfoy comeback after I went to sleep... 'cause I'll kill tha-" Harry was interrupted by Hermione when she grabbed on to his mid section and started to whimper. Harry hesitantly place his hand on her head and started to caress it. (A/n: I hope that's the proper word) He managed to pick up the reason why he was so upset through all her sobbing.

"... its ok. I'm not dead and I'm not going anywhere."

" You don't know what it was like... I thought you were dead. I...I wanted to go and look for you but I couldn't. People wouldn't let me. By the time I woke up... they found that body and everyone though..." she didn't finish the sentence before she broke down again.

" Hermione listen to me." He forcibly lifted up face from his chest and made her look into his eyes. " The reason Voldemort wants me dead is because he knows I'm supposed to defeat him. That means I will. Have faith." Hermione took comfort in his words and clamed herself down. She let go of his mid section and compose herself on the seat.

Harry wasn't as confident about what he had just said, as he might have had appeared to Hermione. He severely doubted every word, but he didn't want Hermione to be overly concerned about him. 

" I will." Said Hermione.

They talked a little bit more for about two minutes when Ron finally woke up. 

" Hey Ron... How is going?"

" Fine." Answered Ron with a sharp edge in the voice. It was quite obvious to Ron and Harry though Hermione didn't see the harsher connotations to his voice. Hermione passed him some of the sweets that she had kept for Harry. 

"Thanks" said Ron when he took them. 

Though Ron was still jealous and angry with Harry for getting affection from Hermione, he completely forgot about it when Harry asked about Ron's holidays. " Hey Ron. I didn't get to ask you what happened at he borrow in the summer. How's everyone and how come I didn't see Fred and George?"

" Well... It's like this. Ludo Bagman gave back the thousand Galleons that he owed them and they wanted to set-up shop in Hogsmede. Mom wouldn't let them unless they get top grades so the entire summer they have been studying." 

" So that's why I didn't see them..." said Harry but Ron quickly interrupted his friend. 

" You won't believe how hard they have been studying. Mom's now scared that they'll get good marks and set-up shop, when they could just as easily take up good positions in the ministry. Did you hear about Percy..." Harry nodded a no. " You know Percy got a promotion right?...No...Ok. Percy was under suspicion because he didn't recognise that his boss was under the imperious curse so they gave him a demotion and made him an assistant to the Moroccan Ambassador." Harry was pretty sure that Ron had paused for drama. 

" The Ambassador was so pleased with Percy's work he tripled Percy's salary and since then puts all the money into the family finances. Look all my books and clothes" Harry for the first time noticed that Ron was wearing very good quality clothes. "Everything brand new. Including..." 

Harry didn't want to hear Ron go on and on about his new things so he interrupted by asking about rest of the family. " What about Bill and Charlie?"

" Charlie's only been to our house three or four times in the holidays, but

Bill was a different case altogether. He's been there almost every other day. He stops by talks to dad about things before he leaves after dinner. Dad won't tell us what he's discussing with him. But I think it had something to do with You-Know-Who being back. There is something..." and Ron for the next fifteen minutes gave very detailed account of what all the Weasley's been upto. 

Though they were amongst the very first few people to arrive Harry and Co. decided they didn't want Harry to be mauled by people so they stayed in their carriage for a long time until the other students had already filed in. 

" Well. If we're any late we'll miss the whole thing." said Harry looking back and forth between his two best friends. 

" Yeah! All the food...." started to say Ron but stopped himself when he saw Hermione glaring at him. " er -I mean I can't wait till we start studying again." Ron ended the sentence in a sarcastic note, but Hermione mistook that for a genuine comment.

" Oh. Ron! First Harry starts studying and Now you! Oh! I don't think this year can't get any better." said Hermione beaming. Ron knew the comment he had made was sarcastic but when he heard the praise he quickly forgot that Harry even existed. 

Hermione said something next that wiped his happiness away and replaced it with childish envy. "... Oh! No it can" she clapped her hands like a six year old child at a circus. " This Sunday I have a date with Victor. Victor is coming all the way from Bulgaria... just to see me. Can you believe it?"

Ron showed remarkable self-restraint, when he didn't blow his top off at the name of Victor Krum, the famous Quidditch player and current boyfriend of Hermione Granger. 

Harry was surprised at how calm Ron was at Victor's name but he didn't say anything as he suspected Ron of liking Hermione as more than a friend. Harry jumped into the conversation, just to make sure Hermione's ongoing description of how good Victor was didn't make Ron loose his cool. " Let go inside."

The whole room was buzzing like crazy as people tried to catch up on their holidays. Surprisingly enough people had forgotten about Harry's big entrance at the train station. But it all changed the moment he emerged from the shadow of the main entrance's archway. 

The room went very silent and Harry half expected that the whole hall would come and try to talk to him. But much to his relief no one came. Then suddenly the whole hall burst into conversation again but this time the sole conversation topic was "Harry". He could pick up bits of talking as he headed for the Gryffindor table.

" ...can you see those scars...his arm... look at those muscles... when did he

get so big...he apparated... with a magical creature... he must be a very strong wizard... his children would be very strong too.." the last stray comment made

Harry's cheeks flush a bit. 

Majority of the girls including those that were two years older were staring at his half naked body. His shredded cloak only covered his shoulder and a bit more. The three long scar marks on his flat stomach were only evidence of the battle with the Nundu that Harry had and it was visible to all. 

Harry's body wasn't rippling with muscles but it wasn't skin and bones either. Strict diet at the Dursley's coupled with three years of Quidditch and a lot of hard work over the summer at the Granger's had ensured his body was good enough to be envied by most of the male student population of Hogwarts. The fact that almost all the girls were openly ogling at him like he was the perfect male specimen only added to that. 

Ogling was one thing that Harry could tolerate considering that he was just beginning to get used to the staring, well, much more than he was able to in his fourth year. But nothing in those years prepared him for prepared him for what was to come next. 

After the girls had seen enough... well if they wanted to see anymore they would need to get him to a more private place... they started to wink at him. Harry took a step back when he realised that there were atleast fifty witches winking at him. Most of the girls were third year and up while there were quite a few seventh years in that group. 

But that wasn't what surprised and horrified Harry. No it was the idea of being winked at by Professor Nina Hawthorn who taught gnome psychology and some other subject's that Harry didn't know about (A/N: Maybe Ron's future major) that made him feel almost nauseous.

Harry though for a moment thought that Alicia Spinet the head girl was looking at him, though unlike most of the girls when she saw Harry had seen her, she blushed and returned talking to George. As much of a surprise as it was to catch her looking at him he was literally stumped to see that some of the better looking Slytherin girls winking at him to and not all were just winking to. Their eyes were suggestive enough to make Harry's throat go dry. 

Harry reasoned that the new development could have two reasons. One, the girls were under order to seduce Harry and then kill him... or something even more terrifying... Not everyone in Slytherin was like Draco. As much as Harry wanted to believe that all the Slytherins were bad his mind kept telling him that Snape had been a good friend of his mother for a long time. 

Harry took a quick seat between Hermione and a very excited Parvati. If Harry had thought that he was going to escape the staring of the girls just by sitting down at the table he was mistaken. They kept their eyes firmly focused on Harry until Professor McGonagall brought in the new first years amongst loud applause by all the houses. 

[Insert stupid sorting hat song here]

"Abenine, Nikki" said Professor McGonagall when the song was finished with an explosion of clapping. All in all there as a total of twenty six new Gryffindors, twenty new Ravenclaws, seventeen Hufflepuffs and only ten new Slytherins. Harry couldn't help but think that the shortage in number of Slytherin was related to Voldemort coming back from the dead and their plan to invade the school pretty soon.

After the sorting the headmaster stood up and said, " Welcome students and staff to another glorious year at Hogwarts. This is for those of you who are new and a reminder for those who have been here before. Voldemort is back. The Dark lord is back. " Few of the first years looked terrified others from muggle houses were clueless. " Tell your friends and families that. You may want to leave the school in fear that it, will the first place he attacks, well you would be right. But I believe that would be a mistake. Hogwarts stood its ground when the dark wizard Salazar Slytherin one of the founders himself attacked the school."

* That's right... He tried for a week to gain access, finally giving up and kidnapping a muggle child in an attempt to bring Gryffindor out of his fortress and face him * thought Harry as he remembered the information from "Hogwarts: A history".

Harry chanced a glance at Cho Chang. Cho looked sad at Professor Dumbledore's words. Harry could see the hatred in her for Voldemort rise up. Harry quickly looked away. Harry had a crush on Cho since his first year, but when her boyfriend died partly because of him. Harry gave up all aspiration of getting involved with her. He would only ever remind her of the terrible tragedy that she suffered and he couldn't bear to see her in pain, or anyone else for that matter.

" The forbidden forest is still forbidden as the name implies and homework is still mandatory. In light of this new situation all students from year second year up are required to take part in Dueling classes atleast once a week. Now we have two new teachers amongst us. Firstly I would like you to welcome Professor Ali Pasha from the Ministry of Morocco. He would be teaching Dueling."

The hall was filled with reserved claps. They were expecting someone who looked like Gildroy Lockheart a phoney teacher. When Ali Pasha came to view of the students most of them took a shine to him. His face was welcoming and understanding. The level of applause doubled by the time he sat down. 

" I would also like you to welcome Percy Weasley Professor Ali Pasha's liaison officer to the British Ministry of Magic." They saw Percy come to the podium and stand next to Ali Pasha. "...As some of you might remember he was the head boy in his time and it's always nice to see an old student return." There was a polite amount of claps for Percy though Gryffindor made a huge deal out it and started to do cat calls and whistle. 

" It seems the next part of the speech has become part of the opening day speech and it looks like it'll be no different next year. We have a new Defence against Dark Arts teacher." Professor Dumbledore then said, " You may remember her from last year. She was one of the contestants for the TriWizard Tournament competition. Though she does not have as much experience with the field as some of our other teachers before, I believe she is a great replacement. She has only agreed to teach for a year, before she starts her new job as the head of Marine creatures and Regulations department for the Ministry of Magic."

Harry was surprised when Ron asked, " Harry do you know who it is?" It was a stupid question and Harry knew it, but he also knew why Ron asked that question. He was hungry. Before Harry could say anything there was a lot of applause as the part-Veela woman made her way to the teacher's table from the anteroom. Unlike Ron the rest of the male population in Hogwarts remembered Fleur Delacour was the only female competitor in the tournament.

Harry was surprise that Ron didn't get whiplash from how quickly he turned his face back to the teachers table. " Let me introduce Professor Fleur Delacour" Ron and half the male population of Hogwarts were totally mesmerised as she took to the teachers table and sat down next to Professor Snape. 

" Ron... I think you better turn the other way. I don't think there is enough holes in this room to drain the amount of saliva coming out of your mouth." said Harry teasing Ron who paid absolutely no attention to his friend. 

* If he doesn't stop looking at Fluer, he can kiss any chance he has with

Hermione goodbye.* thought Harry when he saw Hermione's face contorted with anger or was it fury. So Harry was glad when he heard the headmaster say, "Lets eat".

Ron's love for food was almost as much as his lust towards Fleur. Ron struggled with his lust for the part Veela woman and food that he enjoyed more than anything in the world. It was a bit funny to see Ron take a bite, look at Fleur and then go back to eating when he saw Hermione grimacing at him, only to repeat it after half a minute. 

Half way through the dinner Harry spat out what he was eating when he felt a hand on his shoulder, showering Ginny and Colin who were sitting next to each other on the other side of the table with half eaten, half chewed and not chewed at all bits of food. It didn't look as though either of them actually minded the shower of food. 

It turned out to be Professor McGonagall. She leaned closer to Harry's ear and said, " The Headmaster wishes to speak with you when you are done putting the first years back in their dorm rooms. The password to the office is 'tooth cavity'."

Alicia kept eyeing Harry all throughout the feast. He caught her several times looking at him with an expression that he had connected with Ron's sister Ginny. So it was a relief when Professor McGonagall finally signalled the prefects to take their charges to their new habitats. Alicia Spinet and Hermione took the first year girls and headed towards the Gryffindor common room, following closely behind them was Harry and the first year boys. The boys didn't make a pip as they headed for their destination. Halfway to their destination Harry started to walk slower before coming to a full stop. 

He turned around to see that the boys had stopped as well. He walked back and forth once before speaking, " By the looks on your faces, I can see all of you belong to Gryffindor. I'm going to give you a few words of advice that'll help you though the year."

" Number one, in potions Professor Snape is your teacher. He has a very old grudge against the Gryffindors so expect him to pick on you. He'll be hard on you. That's probably an understatement like You-Know-Who is bad." Several of the boys shivered at the name but a few (Harry assumed muggle born) didn't react all. " You have two days till your classes start and I suggest you spend the time wisely going over the potions book lightly."

" Second piece of advice. Watch out for Slytherins. Not everyone from that house is bad but most are." Harry emphasised the word most.

" Third. If you see some one getting picked on, for any reason, stand up and say something. Even if it's a Slytherin getting picked on. Help him. You're Gryffindors and that's what this house does" 

" I reserved the last advice for you because it's the most important. 'NEVER

EVER EAT, DRINK OR LISTEN TO WHAT THE TWINS SAY'. They'll play tricks on you at any chance they get...OK! Now that I have finished my big brotherly speech...any question?"

A timid looking boy put his hand up and asked, " Are you Harry Potter?"

" Yes" the timid looking boy's eyes went as big as saucers. Harry thought, for a moment he had another Collin type situation on his hands but was happy when the boy turned his attention to a portrait on the wall. 

" Can we see your scar?" asked another boy who reminded Harry of Draco. Harry could see from the smug expression on his face, he didn't believe that the famous Harry Potter would be wearing such bad clothing. It really wasn't possible to see Harry's scar anymore since in the time he had spent in Morocco his hair had grown covering up the scar unless he moved his hair out of the way. 

" No you may not." The reply was swift and cold. 

" I do not like being stared at for something I did when I was one year old. How would you like it if everyone started to stare at you because you used to take a dump in your nappy when you were one year old." 

All the first years laughed at his joke. The boy's smug expression was wiped and was replaced with a blushed face and an embarrassed grin. 

" OK lets go".

Once they were at the portrait he explained how the door worked. He also explained that the password is changed every two weeks. He explained that keeping the password written form had allowed once a dangerous criminal to enter it. 

Just before he came to the stairs that led to the boys dorms he pointed at the girls dorm door and said, " I haven't had the pleasure of going in there yet - That's the way it's supposed to be. If you get caught in there you'll get expelled immediately. That's if you're lucky to escape the girls trying to kill you. Now follow me single file and I'll let you choose your own beds." 

As soon as a fight broke out as the boys had some trouble deciding who got which bed. It was terribly fun for Harry to see the timid looking boy jump at the Draco clone. He broke the fight by giving the bed to a boy with an Afro.

When it was all finished he went into the common room to see that all the other levels had finally finished with their feast and were now enjoying a little chitchat. Harry surrounded himself in an illusion spell to disguise himself as the timid looking boy. Harry knew he could only keep the spell going for a few seconds so he ran through the incoming crowd and went into one of secret passageways that finished very close to where the gargoyle to the headmaster's office was. 

" oof" cried Harry when he bumped into something in the passageway. Actually this something was a person and if Harry was right it was a girl. " What's the meaning of this? Get off me you jerk" said the girl. 

Harry recognised the voice, * It was Ginny!* thought Harry before he said, " Lumos", as he got off her. In the dim light of his wand Harry found Ginny, falt on the ground. He picked her up by bending his arm into a hook and sliding it behind her back. He brought the tip if the wand closer to her face to examine it more closely and he saw the mortified look on her face. Harry realised why when he saw that she wasn't alone in there some one was behind her. It was... Collin Creevy!

(A/N: Sorry to burst the bubble for all you Ginny/Neville or Ginny/Draco .... ewe ...well it's better than Draco/Hermione.... fans out there but making Draco good would require me to change the law of universe... I really don't have to explain my self to you...er... sorry I'll stop yelling now. ** Author makes a sly comment under his breath **) 

" Harry! Oh! Sh**!... er... I can explain" said Ginny. Even in the dim light Harry could see her face turn red enough to almost blend in with the darkened passageway. A colour that her own brother acquired when he realised that Hermione's bra was on his face.

" You don't have to explain anything... I know nothing. I saw nothing. " said Harry, as quickly went back to going towards his destination. 

Right after the conversation Harry started to move. It was a fair few minutes before he was out of the passageway. Once there Harry started to laugh and cry at the same time. Ginny and Collin couple was a very funny one, but thinking about how obsessive their children could be with Harry, he was genuinely concerned. Their children are bound to be even more obsessed with him then either of their parents. 

When he finally composed himself he walked up to the gargoyle and uttered, "tooth cavity". The gargoyle came to life and jumped out of the doorway. Harry went up the steps (A/n: I'm not sure if there was any) and waited until he heard the distinctive voice of the professor calling him. 

" Come in Harry."

Harry looked around the room and was surprised to see that nothing had changed. Harry knew not what the topic of conversation was about so he started towards the seat that the Professor had motioned toward. In midway the Professor came up to him and rather uncharacteristically hugged Harry.

" Thank you. Thank you for saving Malina's life."

" Melina Khan is a relative of yours?" asked Harry.

" My Niece to be exact."

" How is she doing now? I mean I haven't seen her for years now. How's Shano doing?" 

" They're all fine. I wanted to make sure I got all the facts of the event of the last few days straight." With that the Professor started to tell what he thinks happened and Harry corrected as he went along. After their talk was finished he told Harry that he had brought the trunk and his books and other things from Morocco and he also told Harry to hide his chest well until when it was time. They both knew the meaning of the words, but to anyone who wasn't in on the secret it would have had appeared to be cryptic. 

When Harry was back in the common room, everyone had gone to sleep. He tried going to sleep in his bed but after about an hour struggling to sleep in the soft... too soft... bed he gave up and decided to sleep on the long couch that he knew had hard seats. Sleep came very soon to him. Harry wanted to try to do astral projection but even getting out of his body proved to be a challenge. So he decided that the next time he wasn't so tired he was going to try and get back to using his powers.

(A/N: The power is something that he can't use, because there is just too much magic in the air for Harry to try and use the power. He'll get to use it very soon.) 

Hermione woke up in the middle of the night and decided to go to the common room and read through her favourite book. " Quidditch throughout the ages". She had memorised the book in the days after she had thought Harry was dead. When she emerged from the doorway she could see Harry snuggled up near the fire on the long couch. She went and sat down in front of the fire, leaning her back of the front of the couch. Hermione didn't make it to the fifth page before the sleeping fairy paid her a visit.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

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	19. CH 19: The Dueling Demonstration

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 19/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 19  
**Chapter Name:** The Dueling Demonstration

Harry was the first to wake up in the morning. Saturday was his usual sleeping in day but for some reason he woke up early that day. The wake up itself was very nice. All night long he had smelled vanilla & spice and when he awoke he saw the source. 

Hermione's head was in front of his nose and he had smelled her conditioner. As he was absentmindedly admiring her locks of frizzy hair, a thought sent him scrambling off the couch. 

* What would people think if they came in now... more importantly what would Ron think...* thought Harry, panicking before realising that it was just less than six o'clock in the morning and the likelihood of anyone being awake was the same as Snape giving the Gryffindors a hundred points. 

He decided that the best course of action was to wake up Hermione. 

" Hermione. Hermione wake up." He said gently to her ear.

" No daddy. I don't want to go to kindy today" She chewed on some of her own saliva making some noises before saying, " No kindy please..."

Harry chuckled at the though that Hermione actually ever not wanting to go to school. It was impossible to believe considering how much she enjoyed doing her homework. 

* She probably slept here all night... I better put her in bed. * 

He gently picked her off the ground and headed for the girls' dorm. It didn't take him long to find the room that Hermione shared with others of the same year. He just looked for a room that was clean but also had a lot of books and an empty bed. 

Fortunately for Harry the door was open and that none of the girls were awake yet or so he thought. There was a solitary figure in the shadows that he had missed. He put her down on the bed and tucked her in and left her a note before quietly leaving the room.

When the warm noon sun finally streamed through the window of the dorm and onto the face of Hermione, she was surprised to wake up in her own bed. Not only that but she was also tucked nicely inside her favourite blanket featuring a flying book and a small girl chasing after it. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out how she had ended up in her own room, but the answer came when she found a small note on her bed written in unmistakably Harry's shoddy penmanship.

Hey Hermione,

You really shouldn't have gone to sleep like that... I mean... Do you know how hard it was for me to carry someone as heavy as you... I'm joking. I could have been expelled for putting you back in the bed. (I'm laughing as I'm writing this -Harry) Not that I minded going in there... all those girls and only in their cute little pyjamas...

Harry

P/S: I tried "moonwalking" but failed miserably. I find it almost hard to believe that mom ever did this. The pain was there almost before I could get out. 

(A/N: Harry and Hermione had agreed before coming to Hogwarts that they would call AstralProjecting 'moonwalking' to avoid people from finding out.)

This is here because some of you don't read authors notes. Harry can't use his moon walking powers just yet. It'll be a while before he can again, since he has to get used to doing it alone first. It won't be till the end of the year that they can do it together.

Hermione couldn't help but grin at the note. Harry had acquired an unusual sense of humour in the summer and she suspected it had something do with the two days he was missing. * Why does he seem older* thought Hermione for the third time after she had found him alive. Her heart was buzzing with excitement, when she thought of all the cookie adventures the three of them would be having that year. 

After a quick shower she headed down stairs wearing a shirt that she had "removed (without the permission of the owner)" from Harry's trunk after she thought he had died. When she reached the landing she saw Harry jog into the common room in his light blue T-shirt and swimming togs that Dudley had abandoned several years earlier. The room was empty except for those two. Hermione couldn't wait to talk to him when Ron came crashing through the portrait hole and collapsed on the floor in front of Harry's feet.

" Hey! Ron you ok, Buddy" asked Harry with genuine concern in his voice. 

" Yeah...I..'m...just...a...litt..le... tired." Ron replied who was still not done with his panting. Ron had agreed to go running with his friend in the hopes that when Harry gets all the attention from the girls, he'll get some as well. But all the girls it seemed had either forgotten about Harry or just weren't interested that day. Though Alicia had jogged with them for about an hour before she had to go to the meeting of the Quidditch captains to organise that years Quidditch games.

" Well, you need to get in shape for..." Harry stopped when he saw Hermione come down the stairs in slightly loose denim trouser and very nice white shirt that she wore with the bottom part tied in a knot in front of her.

* Wow! She looks great...* thought Harry until he saw that she was wearing his only piece of muggle clothing he had bought for himself. * HeY! That's the shirt I bought before going to Morocco. So that's where it went to...*

He debated whether or not to tell her something in regards to her appearance but decided against it as Ron was there. When Harry stopped talking in mid sentence Ron looked up to see the cause. Ron's mind stopped working for a moment before he recovered saying, " You look ...err... nice Hermione."

Hermione waited a few seconds for Harry to say something but when he didn't she said rather curtly, " Thanks. Atleast one of you have the decency to say so." 

Harry quickly caught on to the fact that she had worn the shirt to somehow intimidate him or even worse get a complement out of him. Or atleast that's what his brain reasoned. * This could be fun*

" Are trying to start a fight Ms. Granger?" said Harry in a mock voice that resembled Snape's.

" So what if I am?" retorted Hermione, sounding a bit more serious than Harry had hoped for.

" OK... You name the time and place" said Harry. Ron was surprised at how easily his two best friends were going at each other's throats just because of a small matter of Harry not complementing her. 

" Harry. I think you should apologise and complement her" said Ron taking a side with Hermione. 

" I think not!" said Harry indignantly, " If I liked what she was wearing I would have had said so! Denim trousers and a white shirt -ugh." 

If Hermione hadn't been so worked up about Harry's comment she would have had remembered that it was Harry's shirt that she was wearing and she could easily deflect the insults to him, but she did not.

" You...Youu... I'll get you for that Harry Potter. You wanted to know the time and place? Uh!" 

Harry had never seen Hermione so riled up before and though it was a bit mean of him, he achieved his aim in getting her to have a duel with him. " Great hall. After Launch. I'll organise it with Mr. Pasha. I'll beat you up in front of the whole school and I won't even get in trouble for it." She stormed out of the room after that.

Ron was very surprised at Harry. He had never seen Harry act like that before toward Hermione except when she had told Professor McGonagall about getting a Firebolt. So it was not a surprise when he asked, " What was that about?... Oh! Don't tell me... It's that time of the month again isn't it?"

" Ron. Don't be jerk." Reprimanded Harry for using such a crude expression. 

" It's like this.... You know how me and her got taught the Dueling techniques right..." he waited for Ron to nod. " Did you know she did karate for three year before coming to Hogwarts? She also knows a hell of a lot more spells than I did when we practised. Those two facts combined are a very bad thing. Well... I had to find that out when we practised together. I was the one getting physically beaten up... I got her good on spells but only three times I managed to hit her physically. I think I can beat her now and this is my chance to get some of my dignity back."

" You do realise if you loose to her that your reputation will be gone." Said Ron.

" If I loose then I deserved to loose and you should know by now the only people's opinion I gave a damn about is you, Hermione, Sirius and Professor Dumbledore. Well any way... we need to grab a shower and something tells me its' going to be a long weekend either way."

When Hermione mentioned to Ali Pasha and offered to do a Dueling match to help increase the number of participants he was sold on the idea. For the next half an hour the rumour spread around the school that there would be a Dueling match to get students to signup to more than one class of Dueling. Harry ate very little since too much food had a way of making him sleepy. Ron on the other hand had no such compunction; in the middle of his late lunch the plates vanished leaving him very hungry. Ali Pasha stepped in the middle of the tables and loudly cleared his throat bringing silence to the room. 

" Ahem. Attention please." When the room noise had died down enough he said, " This year all fourth year and up are required to take Dueling as a subject atleast once a week. With the dark lord back in power it's advised that you take it three times a week and as an elective in the week ends as a club type activity. Now... I have taught two students amongst you already a few of the basic moves. The technique is more of a way of thinking than anything else. It teaches you to understand how best to use physical attacks with the magical ones. It's been part of the Moroccan wizarding culture for over a thousand years, though the revival of the technique was during the Shozar wars some thirteen years ago." He paused to see general reaction of the crowd. He could see the students were interested when everyone came closer.

" Now I ask the participants to come up and demonstrate. Harry. Hermione."

The pair made their way to where Ali Pasha was. Surprisingly no one clapped or cheered. They were all too anxious to see what would happen. Most of them had seen the disaster the Lockheart's attempt at starting a Dueling club was. When he clapped his hands and all the tables disappeared. He then snapped his fingers and Harry and Hermione's clothes changes into more appropriate loose fitting clothes. They bowed to each other and took out their wands.

" Begin" said Ali Pasha. 

Harry opted to take a stance that he knew, but it was unfamiliar to both Ali Pasha and Hermione. Hermione though surprised recovered quickly. 

She yelled " Impedimenta", hitting squarely on his body. Since she was very close to Harry she decided to try a high kick on his face but Harry surprised her by grabbing her ankle in mid air and turning her body a full 360 degrees before letting go. Hermione fell to the floor with a loud thud, but she was back on her feet very soon since Harry tried no counter attack. Harry just grinned.

Again Hermione assumed the role of aggressor. She yelled, " Moms serkia" and a blinding while exploded in front of Harry's face. The light temporarily blinded Harry, surprisingly enough the spell only worked on the person it was aimed at. Hermione followed through by tripping Harry. She then locked Harry in the same position as she had done before in Morocco. 

Hermione managed to elbow Harry five times in the face before Harry could see again. When a small treacle of blood came out of his lips Harry saw Hermione regret written all over her face for hitting him too many time.

* Don't think that way Hermione. You can't think that way when you're fighting... Well I'll just have to piss you off now don't I * thought Harry, as he threw Hermione of him the same way he had done when they were in Morocco. 

" You have to do a lot better than that Hermione." Teased Harry as he wiped away the blood from his lips.

Hermione didn't liked to be teased and she forgot ever regretting hitting him too many times. So when Hermione went full force all of a sudden the whole room let out a collective gasp. She knew from experience before Harry didn't get hurt as much in his mid-section so she had to target his groin and upper torso. 

After three minutes of intense attack she managed to land one good spell on Harry. Harry was fast and he managed to avoid all her physical attacks. Realising Harry had been trying to make her tired from the beginning she went into a defensive stance.

But the defensive stance makes you wait for the other person to hit you. Harry did no such thing. Harry was still trying to piss Hermione off. Harry started to circle her. After a few nerve wracking seconds (for Hermione), Harry did something she hadn't seen before or read about before which by it self was a big achievement.

He yelled, ' Illuoi Mulcast'. Suddenly Harry's clones surrounded her... thirteen to be exact. Though trivial in terms of use it was a very complicated spell and only handful of people knew how to do it since it requires a lot of metal focus to do it. Ali Pasha, gave a knowing smile at the as he knew of only one other person to do it and that was during the Shozar Wars and that was done by none other than that man who brought about the end of the war.

She tried desperately to see which one was the real one when they all spoke making the whole room reverberate with the combined voice of the thirteen Harry

Potters. 

" Confusing isn't it?"

Hermione though she found which of the clones was the real one but before she could attack it all the clones disappeared leaving only one right behind her. Harry tapped on her shoulder and said, " You're it".

The room filled with laughter as they realised Harry was just teasing her. Hermione was furious, at Harry for treating the demo a game, though she knew it was a result of a fight between them. She started to run after him, causing the great hall to be filled with laughter again. Then she got a brilliant idea to cast a 'quick' spell on herself. So for the next few seconds she was almost a blur as she moved faster than the eye could see properly. When she caught him she pummelled his face and groin area with punches, elbows and hexes.

Though the hexes didn't stay long but the blows made him bleed and bruise. Hermione wasn't the only one who hit the other one during those blurring few seconds. Harry managed to give her some of her own medicine, when he blocked several of her attacks using moves that she had taught him and then retaliating with his own blows. But since she had the head start by the time the 'quick' spell wore off Harry fell to the floor. 

" Ha..ha.. Potter getting beaten up by a girl" said Malfoy who had forgotten that the same girl had rendered him useless on the train the day before. " Shut up. Malfoy. I'm concentrating." Said one of the 6th year prefects from Ravenclaw who held his wand tip right to Malfoy's nose.

When Harry fell to the floor after the beating he almost lost grip on his wand.

Which would have had meant that he was defeated. His male ego told him it was time he stopped playing. He stood up and cast a spell on himself. It was too low to be heard by anyone else. 

"Stupefy" yelled Hermione as a bright blue beam of light sizzled through the air before bouncing off something invisible very close to Harry's body. The stray spell went right through the invisible shield that Ali Pasha had erected and hit Draco Malfoy. Draco flew through the air and hit the wall right behind him. Professor Snape realising the invisible shield was too weak since the amount of area it covered was relatively large and got Professor McGonagall to join him to set-up shielding charms. 

When Hermione saw the stunning curse just bounce off Harry's shield she decided to try the biggest and most powerful legal curse she could do. She yelled, "Aureus Incendio" (meaning golden Flame). Her entire body was engulfed in yellow flames until the flames started to move to her wand. She aimed straight at Harry not knowing the full strength of the shielding charm. 

Hermione had expected for the curse to go right through the shield, but when the spell was cast she quickly realised that Harry's strategy had worked. She was too weak to do the spell at full power. *Should be enough though * thought Hermione as she put everything she had into it. 

Hermione was wrong... but not by very much. When the bright yellow beam reached the shield Harry had no idea, what it was. He felt his shielding charm weaken and collapse behind him. Harry redirected his powers to the front of the shield barely managing to hold on. If Hermione had put an ounce more of her magic in it Harry would have had been consumed by the yellow flame. 

When the shielding charm finally managed to deflect the blast it headed back to Hermione. Hermione didn't have enough strength to move out of the way of the bright yellow beam so she resigned herself to think that for the next few days she would be in the hospital wing. 

Something clicked inside of Harry again, the same way it had when Hermione was under attack from the Nundu. He moved faster than he ever had done before and managed to put himself between the deflected magic beam and Hermione. Hermione saw the beam of light hit Harry on his back and engulfing him a blaze of yellow flames, for his trouble. 

He let out a scream that stopped Hermione's heart cold. She knew the flame was an advanced sort of stunning spell that disabled the cursed person for a few seconds but she had no idea that Harry would have had creamed in pain. She couldn't even move to Harry's aid when Harry went to the floor in pain. Her eyes started to well up with tears when.... 

Amazingly Harry got up and literally shook himself off the pain. He yelled to mainly the crowd who were trying to see what was wrong with Harry, " I'm OK. It's just my ankle. I think I sprang it". Hermione then saw Harry walking towards her with a slight limp.

Harry took only three seconds to literally shake off the advanced stunning spell, which was shocking considering the Aurors used them on deatheaters to disable them for between ten to fifteen seconds. It was as if she put a fork in a muggle toaster while it was on. When they were close she could see he was smiling broadly and it had nothing evil in it. She had expected Harry to come to her and curse her with something really bad but to her surprise he knelt down in front of her and presented his wand to her. 

It was a sign of his defeat.

The whole hall cheered. Ali Pasha still had the shield erected so every one wasn't able to rush in there and congratulate them on a fantastic performance.

Harry got up and stood next to her shoulder to shoulder. He leaned his head towards Hermione and said, " I was just joking when I said those things about you in the common room. You did look good... I just wanted to get to rile up so we could have a good fight. I'm sorry." He then turned his body to wards Hermione and said, " You can have my shirt. It looks better on you." 

Ali Pasha walked through the shield the three shielding charms and started to speak. 

" Everyone" The hall went surprisingly quite. "I hope you liked what you saw. If you didn't then think about it this way" he looked around the hall to see if Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape or even Professor Dumbledore was there.

Finding no one of authority than himself present he said, "... you'll get to beat up both your friends and enemies and you do it all in the name of learning. Don't you wish all your other subjects were like this too?" in response a thundering cheer went across the room. After he finished he told them to go and see Percy in Ali Pasha's class on Monday morning or in the weekends at launch times. 

Harry's injuries hadn't healed yet since he didn't want to expose his powers to anyone else yet. Hermione was weak from her last attack and had to be carried by Harry to a table that Professor Pasha made appear out of thin air. Once he put her down, he noticed that she was crying. " What are you crying about now? I said I'm sorry... Look if you want me to go on my hands and knees and beg for your forgiveness..." Harry had started to already go down on his hands and knees when Hermione caught him.

" It's not that... I was just wondering why you take that blast for me?"

" Oh That" said Harry grinning a little, " Well... I was stupid, when I didn't attack you after I did that illusion of my 12 other brothers....". His smile just kept getting bigger. " I didn't think that you should have to spend several days in the hospital and miss all the new things that we're supposed to be learning this year." There was a hint of blush on her face.

* She always gets like this when I say something about her liking school...* thought Harry as he said, " and all because of me... besides I couldn't risk anyone else."

Neither Harry nor Hermione had noticed the other two shielding charm go up after the incident with Malfoy. Hermione knew what Harry meant. If Harry had used the shielding charm someone from the audience would have had been hurt. Then Harry's face went a little serious.

" By the way... that was one powerful beam. I didn't almost make back before it hit you... Not to mention it almost went through the shielding charm even though I think it was only half strength. What was it?" 

" Golden Flame" smiled Hermione, but that wasn't all that she did. Her face was blushing the brightest ever at the complement.

" Ahhh.... Was it supposed to be that powerful?"

" Yes. I'm sorry... I shouldn't have done that..." Hermione tried to finish the sentence but she was interrupted by Harry.

" You should be sorry. But-" Harry used his hands to wipe away her tear. "-not because of using a strong attack on me, but for feeling sorry for it. I told you I wanted to become stronger...." Harry broke off when he heard the unmistakable sound of Ron approaching. 

It had taken fair lot of shouting on Ron's part to get Ali Pasha's attention, before being allowed through the shield. Ron arrived just in time to hear Harry offer Hermione to heal her wounds. He wondered whether his friend had gone totally Lockheart on him.

" Harry. Are you trying to pull a Lockheart here? You'll do some kind of major damage to her. Let's just take her to the nurse..." he looked at Harry's face to see there were several cuts there too. " You need some attention too."

" No, I'm not trying to be Lockheart. I've actually done it before." Harry was a little snappish when he answered back. " And before you say anything to me about needing to go through three years of training to do it properly... I did it on my self and Hermione lots of times." 

Harry didn't wait for Ron to look astounded before he started to murmur the incantations under his breath. Harry's wand glowed a little before the glow started to stream onto Hermione's face. Ron wasn't sure if he should be pleased or a bit jealous that Harry could do as he said, when he saw several cuts to Hermione's face were gone. 

He saw her face hands get Goosebumps and cheeks turn pink... well even more than before. When he saw her grab on to the tabletop and her knuckles turning white, he mistook the action as one for pain, instead of the almost ecstasy that she was feeling.

Ron tackled Harry to the ground stopping the stream and interrupting the flow of the liquid aura. It did come as a very big surprise to Harry, but he didn't let his mind be clouded with the madness due the sudden attack.

" What's the hell is matter with you, Harry? Can't you see she's in pain? Not like Lockheart... My Ass." said Ron in anger.

" Is that what you think?" Harry did not want to laugh but he couldn't stop himself. " Ask her if it hurts?"

After he received injuries at the hand of the Nundu, he tried his hand for the first time at self-healing. This was a lot more complicated than the doing it on someone else, since it required the person to concentrate on two things at once. The way Harry was after his initial fight with the Nundu, he had no choice. He would have had died, if he didn't try it. It was a lot more difficult since there was three things he had to concentrate on. One, performing the spell. Two, the area where the damage was and three, probably the one that caused most problems, remembering to block the pain.

" Ask her... I saw her grabbing on to the tabletop, like her life depended on it. Her knuckled were white. I don't have to ask her. You have the..." he was interrupted by Hermione in mid sentence.

" Ron..."

" What?", came a snapped reply from Ron, before he realised it was Hermione he was talking to. 

Before he could have time to apologise she said, " I wasn't in pain. When he does it the body gets flooded with this tingling sensation... It's actually quite nice. When it happens it's kind of hard to keep control of your body." She blushed once more but neither of the boys could tell since her face was already pink enough as it was.

Ron looked back and forth between his two friends before finally saying, " Oh!" 

Before he couldn't decided between anger and jealousy, but the recent turn of events made the decision very easy for Ron. He was jealous. He was jealous of his friend because he had a talent that would require him to wait for another six years before he would be able to do it. But more importantly because he wasn't the one giving those tingling sensations to Hermione. 

Though an apology came out of Ron Weasley's mouth Harry could see his friend didn't really mean it. Harry decided that he would let Ron get away with it since he had no intention of confronting him about his feelings for Hermione in front of Hermione and not to mention the whole school. Besides he didn't want the situation to become like the year before, when Ron did not believe that Harry about putting his name in the goblet of fire.

Harry decided that from that point on he was going to be more careful of how he behaved toward Hermione in front of and not in front of Ron. Harry didn't want to loose one of his best friends because Ron was too childish to say how he felt about Hermione or because he thought Harry and Hermione were more than friends. 

Almost everyone in the school came to shake hands or to pat both Harry and Hermione. Many of the Slytherins actually wanted Hermione's autographs, though it was mainly because she had defeated Harry. 

Alicia Spinet waded through the crowd until she was close enough to get Harry's attention. " Harry!" yelled Alicia loud enough for everyone in the hall to hear. Harry started to move towards her. When he reached her she whispered to him, " I need to talk to you after his." Harry wasn't sure what this was about but decided that it was probably about the Quidditch trials. " When?"

" I'll find you before dinner... looks like you public awaits." 

Harry though he had seen her blush a little as she left but he wasn't sure why the Headgirl would blush at him. 

After the match Harry had to politely turn down over a hundred girls asking him to go to the Hogsmede trip with them. Though Harry knew he might have to spend the entire day listening to Ron gripe about Victor and Hermione, he decided that it was better than being gawked at, prodded and pinched at by a million witches he didn't even know. He was sure the events of Morocco would haunt him for a long time to come.

For the next five hours Harry had to dodge and evade groups of girls, who thought of Harry's refusal, as a challenge and it was a challenge they all wanted to win. Once he though he had finally managed to throw the girls off he literally ran into someone....

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	20. CH 20: Button Chicken and Quill Bread

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 20/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 20  
**Chapter Name:** Button Chicken and Quill Bread

When Alicia collided with Harry she completely lost balance, which was rather unusual since chasers usually had an absurd amount of balance. It came in very handy when they had to grab the Quaffle in mid air. 

Fortunately Harry was quick enough to grab a hold of her. Before he had a chance to see to whom he had collided with, Harry panicked when he heard the unmistakable sound of the posse of girls chasing him, coming down the corridor. The girls though of Harry's polite refusal as a challenge that they intended to win. Harry wanting to avoid the girls quickly shoved Alicia and himself into the closest empty classroom. 

He locked the door physically and then started to pace. He couldn't think what to do when he remembered a spell he had seen in one of Hermione's personal collection of books.

" benito actrony". 

Harry wasn't sure if the spell would work but knew for a fact that the spell could not be broken by a simple unlocking spell. To his enormous relief the door started to blaze in a light blue fire and then the door turned into a wall. It was quite a transformation and Harry was brought out of his trance of watching it when he heard Alicia gasp.

When he turned around he saw Alicia was watching him intently. " I'm sorry... Those girls have been following me around since launch and-" he looked at his watch, " OH! sh**. It's almost time for dinner-" 

Harry then stopped his ramblings as he remembered she had something to tell him. " Hey! Didn't you want to talk to me about something?" 

Alicia finally stopped staring at him and said, " Well you know Wood is gone this year and the rest of the team suggested that I be the Captain."

" I know... I remember you telling me this in the morning. Congratulations!" said Harry as he went and quickly hugged Alicia. When he let go her cheeks were slightly pink and she had focused her eyes on a particular tile on the floor.

When Harry had first joined the team, that was the first year that Alicia had been out of the reserves and into the playing team. Since that year, she had impressed everyone with her ability as a chaser. She also helped Oliver with the strategies, when he was their captain. She already knew most of the strategies and was probably the best one in the team fit to be captain. So it really didn't come as a surprise for Harry to hear that she had become the captain.

" Well, I've decided that since I'm leaving next year, I'll teach you the ropes. That way you'll be ready to take over when I leave. That means you're now as involved in this as I am. Well... That's if want it..." She looked up to see Harry smiling broadly at her.

" OK." Said Harry, " I really don't have any other choice do it -I mean I'm going to be the most experienced player in the team next year...er...What do I have to do?"

" Not much right now. You're going to help me decide on strategies and co-ordinate the practice sessions with me. I had a talk with Madam Hooch and we already sorted out when we have the Quidditch field for our training. The next thing is choosing the new keeper. The trials are next weekend. After that we have practices ev -" She stopped talking when Harry interrupted her. 

" Can I suggest something?"

" What?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

" Well... may be we should audition for all the positions." Alicia was a bit surprised at the suggestion so she asked, why he thought that.

" Except for me and possibly the new keeper we have to replace the entire squad next year anyway. The reserve team is going to leave at the end of the year, if we scout out this year we'll be able to have a squad that'll be more experienced. When we train we take them along as well as the reserve side. Maybe after the practice we separate out into two teams and play against each other and then when WE (the main team) have to practice they can practice with the reserve side. This way we'll be able to get some real game type practises."

Alicia was beaming at Harry when he finished, " I knew I made the right decision when I chose you to be the co-captain. Well...maybe we should head out." 

Harry looked at the door once and said, " The girls are still there..."

" How do you know?"

" The spell on the door... wait I might be able to channel it to you." Harry stood up and pointed his wand at his left palm and said something that Alicia couldn't hear even though she was very close. A thin red beam hit his palm making it glow with a small red tint. 

He presented his hand to her and said, " take it."

Though Alicia was apprehensive to see Harry perform unknown magic, she didn't hesitate to take his hand. As soon as she did, she felt like someone had pulled the world away from her. She felt that way for a second, since everything went black for that period of time. Then everything came back to normal... well not really normal since everything was a bit more focused and colourful.

She looked at where the door was and saw right through it. There were several girls that somehow had managed to find out that Harry was behind that wall and were camping outside the door. They were happily eating food and talking when suddenly everything went back to normal and she could only see the wall. 

" What was that? I mean... Can you see through walls?" She asked amazed at whatever Harry had done and partly a combination fear and self-conscious that Harry might be seeing right through her dress.

" No!" Harry laughed a little and then said, " The spell I did on the door -well it let's the caster see through the door. All I did after that was just let you see what I saw. I picked it up in Morocco...." Harry didn't want to be dragged into a conversation about his experiences in Morocco so he changed topic.

" Do you want something to eat?"

Alicia laughed... no giggled a little before saying, " Yes! I'm hungry but I don't think you'll make it past the girls there."

Harry wondered how the girls knew Harry was in the room, but he remembered that seventh years knew a lot more magic and it really would not surprise him if there was something like the marauders map out there. Though he doubted that anything as complicated as the Marauders map was out there. He knew it could not be too hard to hard to bewitch a normal school map to show where a person is, as simple searching spell would reveal where Harry is and since he was not in a secret chamber, his whereabouts must be pretty easy to locate.

" Who says we have to?" Harry waved his wand as he whispered some incantations and two silver plates along with accompanying cutlery shimmered into existence.

" I can only make three things using magic. An Ice Cream Sundae, Roasted bits of chicken and bread. Do you think you'll be able to live on that... Or do you wanna get out of here..."

" You can cook... using a wand?" asked Alicia, surprised at the bit of information.

" What do you think I survived on in the desert?"

" WOW! I wanna see it." Alicia in her seven years in the Wizarding world had never seen a meal cooked with a wand alone and now she was going to see the boy who lived cook it. 

She only hoped it didn't taste like what her muggle father used to make when her mother was out of town in business. Alicia was surprised to see how good Harry was in transfiguration. Considering he had transfigured one of her spare buttons from her cloak into frozen chicken. The seasonings mysteriously appeared out of thin air put themselves on the chicken bits and then disappear.

She had known that this type of magic was possible but it takes a few months of dedicated study before a person can do this. The ice cream actually just came out of the wand. The bread was a quill that Harry had in his pocket. Once all finished they sat down on the table that Alicia transfigured from two smaller tables. 

" It's not going to taste like buttons and quills is it?" she asked afraid of the answer.

" No! You'll like it. I promise." Alicia had to admit it was better than what her father could cook but it was a far cry from what the house elves make. As if he heard her say those things in her mind Harry startled her by saying, " I know it's not that good but I promise I'll get you the real food when we get out of here."

By the time the food was finished the posse had abandoned hope of getting Harry Potter and went back to their respective common rooms. When the room was back to the way it was Harry lifted the spell on the door and they made their way to the common room to. On their way back they stopped by the kitchen to get some proper food.

When they entered the kitchen a swarm of house elves approached them. Alicia had never been to the kitchen before so she was surprised to see the sheer number of house elves in there. 

" Is there always this many here?"

" Nope" answered Harry. " Usually there are three times as many working here."

This is when Dobby approached Harry. " 'Arry Potter. You is here to see me?"

" Yes, Dobby. How are you doing? Where's Winky, by the way?"

" I is happy sir. Dumbledore make me head elf." Dobby said as he pointed at the shiny silver badge on his chest. It was upside down. " Winky no here... she be run away."

" Why did she run away?" asked Harry.

" She be upset sir. She be back soon... she always runs away and be back after two days."

" Dobby could you tell me when she is back the next time?"

" Yes sir... why?" asked a curious Dobby.

" I have my reasons. I was wondering could me and Alicia here, get some food. We missed our dinner."

Dobby looked at Alicia and then at Harry. " Harry Potter found a new honey?" 

" Honey?" asked Alicia and Harry both at the same time as to what that really meant.

" Your honey" said Dobby, as if telling it twice would make it more clear to Harry. Surprisingly enough it did.

" Who's my honey...." No sooner those words came out of his mouth; Harry realised what Dobby had meant. He had thought that Hermione was his girlfriend –i.e. honey. " You mean Hermione?"

Dobby nodded.

" No she wasn't my honey. I never had a honey" Alicia still didn't get it so

Harry told turned around and told what Dobby had meant. " Dobby thinks

Hermione was my girlfriend."

" Why would he think that?" asked Alicia.

" Because whenever I'm here I'm with Ron or Hermione... anyway now that I'm here with you he thinks that you're my honey -I mean girlfriend."

" Ohhh." She blushed but Harry missed it, since he was now taking the tray full of foods that Dobby and the other house elves gave them.

Alicia and Harry sat next to each other near the entrance to the common room and started to eat their food. All the while they talked about their families, friends and Quidditch. After they finished their food, the plates disappeared with all the uneaten and unwanted food. 

" OK... We better enter separately..." said Alicia just before she was going to say the password.

" Why?" asked Harry. Alicia's cheek only turned slightly pink in response but they entered the room together anyway, since she really didn't want to tell Harry the reasons. The only two people in the room were Ron and Hermione and they were very busy arguing on the top of their voices to notice either Harry or Alicia had entered the room.

When Alicia said good night and left, Harry wished he could talk to her a bit longer. When he was talking to her out side the common room he had found out that they had a lot in common, least of which was the fact that they both loved Quidditch. 

They both were orphaned at an early age and raised by relatives. Her mother had died shortly after childbirth and her father had died a few years after that. In her case the relatives were childless, so they raised Alicia as their own. They both had problem getting their relatives to let them come to Hogwarts, though their reasons were different. Harry's didn't want any "abnormality" in their lives and while, Alicia's didn't want their adoptive daughter to be away for long periods of time. Their favourite class was Defence against Dark Arts and they both hated Potions to the same degree.

When Harry turned around to Ron and Hermione staring at him. He was perplexed that they had actually stopped fighting. " What?" he asked.

Ron answered, " What were you doing with the Headgirl?" Harry looked at Hermione who was also nodding to signal her interest in the topic as well.

" Well..." he twirled around once with his arms out and said, " You're now looking at the co-captain of the Quidditch team and no Ron I can't give you a position in the team. But the keeper trials are on next weekend so you better get practising, if you really want the job. I'll be going to sleep now." Ron and Hermione both congratulated Harry for his new success, though Ron's felt like only lip service to Harry. He really wished that Ron didn't get jealous of him that easily. 

The Hogsmede trip day started okay enough until Hermione entered the great hall in the light yellow dress that Harry had seen when she went to his house. Ron was lost for words, but Harry went to her and kneeled in front of her forgetting the promise he had made to himself about not doing anything that might upset Ron.

" My lady" he said with exaggerated poise "... Would you grant me the honour of escorting you to the banquet?" Hermione giggled at this and gave her his hand reluctantly.

" Harry. What the hell are you doing?" she asked, as he got of his knee and put locked his arms with hers. 

" Your servant is just worshipping the ground you walk upon, My lady."

" Stop it. You're embarrassing me" there was hints of red in her cheeks.

" We had that huge fight yesterday, because I didn't complement you. Are we going to have another one because, I'm overdoing it? -" he smiled one of his more mischievous smiles. " –'cause I would love to do it again." 

This comment from Harry made her blush. 

The distance from the entrance to the tables was a short one, so they didn't have to have their arms locked for no more than two seconds. Harry guided Hermione next to Ron and then he sat on the other side of Ron. 

When they finished eating Harry used his wand to conjure up some ice cream for his two best friends. Some of people on the table were surprised to see Harry could do this and soon everyone from the Gryffindor house had a goblet full of ice cream in front of them.

Except for the Slytherins, none of the tables were close enough to see Harry do it. A small first year Slytherin girl came over to the table.

" Excuse me, sir..." she said is a very low and shaky voice.

* Sir...hmm. Rather formal *, thought Harry.

Harry had seen her coming from the Slytherin table, but he smiled at her anyway. Remembering that Professor Snape, was a friend of his mothers, when even the her own house was filled with people who hated her. " What can I do for you? -Umm what's your name?"

" Jocelyn Everett...I was wondering..." she was stuttering rather badly, but Harry guessed why she was there when she brought out her rather shaky arm from her back. She was holding out a small golden goblet.

" You want some ice cream?" Harry wanted to be sure. The girl could only nod in response to this. " Sure. Give me your goblet." 

After he was done he asked if she wanted something else. She said thanks and ran off to join her friends. Harry could see some of her friends were giggling, but received mostly venomous glances from other Slytherins. Ron along with rest of the people in the hall was looking at him like he had just killed someone. The look of disgust on their faces prompted Harry to ask Ron a question.

" What is it Ron?"

" What is it?..." he looked flustered and exasperated. " You gave ice cream to a Slytherin! That's what." There was a trace of bitterness in his voice that Harry didn't like. Harry would have had been very upset with Ron, if it was just him, but the rest of the house wanted to ask the same question.

" And that would be bad.... Because?" Harry feigned ignorance.

" Great jumping Merlin! Harry, why the hell did you do it?" Harry could see the same question was on everyone's mind but they weren't close enough to Harry to ask the question.

" Not every one in Slytherin is bad. In fact not too long ago, Gryffindors picked on their own." He said, rather testily.

" What're you talking about?" asked Alicia who was glaring at Harry for putting down his own house. 

Harry looked straight in her eyes and said, " When my mom came here she was one of the very first Muggle born witches and wizards to be allowed into Hogwarts after almost two and a half centuries of being banned. On her way to the first class her fellow Gryffindors picked her on. So don't take this high and mighty, Gryffindors can't-do-anything-wrong attitude with me. (Harry wanted to tell that Snape was one of her few friends, but decided that it was a bit of information that he did not feel comfortable sharing with anyone other than this very close friend). If we can pick on our own..." Harry turned towards Ron, " ... being nice is something they can do without too much of a problem and Ron..." he paused for a split second and finished his sentence, " Don't tell me you've forgotten about Wormtail" 

Ron shivered at the mention of the name Wormtail. He was an animagus disguised as a rat. For three years he had shared the same bed with this wizard who could assume the form his pet rat. The same wizard, who was responsible for the death of Harry's parents, as he had betrayed their location to Lord Voldemort, their killer.

Harry emptied his goblet of ice cream in a big gulp and left without saying anything. Hermione knew of the story from before so she knew how upsetting it was for him. She didn't even bother to finish the rest of her food as she took off after him.

" Hey, Harry! Wait up!" she yelled once they were out in the main corridors. 

" What?" his voice was curt but then he apologised, " I'm sorry. I didn't mean-

", but Hermione interrupted him.

" I know. Let's go to the library. I still have about an hour before the carriages arrive."

After saying those words Hermione proceeded to drag Harry to the library. He could have had easily wrangled himself out of her grip, but decided that he would like to spend some time with one his friend who wasn't jealous of his achievements.

Harry had been in the library countless times before but he had never bothered to check out anything other than spells and Quidditch related books. Hermione seemed to know exactly where she wanted to go and Harry let her lead. Well he actually didn't have a choice like he had a few seconds before. As soon as Hermione had entered the library her excitement caused her to grip Harry's hand stronger than before... too strong for Harry to get out of. In fact it surprised Harry to find out how strong a person she really was.

They sat down on a corner table at the back and started to read the same book, 'History of Spells'. Harry finished the huge book in less than forty-five minutes a full ten minutes after Hermione.

" You're getting good at this, Harry. I might actually have some competition for marks this year..."

" Well not really..."said Harry before teasing her by saying, " I'll be wiping the floor with you"

" We'll see... We'll see" she imitated Harry's smile. 

Just then Ron wondered into the library. Ron apologised for being so stupid at breakfast. " It's OK, Ron. You couldn't help it" said Hermione. The trio burst into laughter at Hermione's joke. It was the first time either Harry or Ron had laughed at a joke that Hermione had said. 

When Hermione left they both said good byes. An awkward silence between Harry and Ron fell over. Harry was the first to break it. 

" I've dropped divination."

" Why?... I mean we're both very good at it and it gives an owl just for sitting

the test." Said Ron. 

" I'm sick and tired of doing that stupid subject. I've changed to Runes and dead languages... The reason I'm telling you this is because I don't want you to drop the subject."

" What? Why? -No if you change I'll change too" said Ron rather reluctantly.

" Face it -you love the subject. I've seen how you love coming up with new ways to die -Oh that reminds me." Harry started to search for something in his pocket. He took out a small green book from his shirt pocket (weekend so they were wearing muggle clothes) and handed it to Ron. "Hermione gave me that as a birthday present. I wouldn't be using anymore." Ron took a look at the title '66666 muggle and magical ways You can die' and for a moment looked as though he might actually cry. 

" It's still my book -I'm just lending it to you." Ron then said a genuine thank you that Harry took as a sign of them mending their friendship. After this the pair talked for about two hours about Quidditch before Ron veered off topic and started about Hermione and Victor. After about two hours of Ron making a list as to why Hermione should not be with Victor, Harry just snapped. 

" Ron you moron! If you thought for one moment I didn't see how feel about Hermione, you're wrong. If you don't have the guts to tell her or atleast do the decent thing and be honest with yourself. Stop venting your frustration on me. You don't see going around moping because of me Cedric died and that's a hell of thing to carry around with you. I am dealing with it. By myself."

Harry left the library without saying one more word. The rest of the day Harry made sure the first and the second years didn't get themselves into trouble. There were very few Slytherins this year so that meant that Harry had to stop his house members from picking on them. Harry actually gave three of the Gryffindors detentions for the next weekend and took off a point each from his own house for starting a fight with the Slytherins. Harry didn't know it but that day he made some Slytherin friends that he'll need in upcoming years.

At lunchtime, Crabbe and Goyle wanted to show off their magical prowess by showing that they could make ice cream come out of their wand as well. Unfortunately they didn't listen to the stern warnings that Malfoy had given them. Malfoy knew that his goons, barely qualified to be at Hogwarts and what they were attempting to do would require them to be a lot better in magic then they were. Even better than himself. 

By the end of the lunchtime, half the Slytherin table was covered with flour, milk, cream, sugar and a variety of other materials. When Professor McGonagall arrived she saw Malfoy yelling at the goons. She thought it wad Malfoy who was at the source of the trouble and his two goons were aiding him. Before Malfoy could protest, his house had lost five points.

If Harry wasn't so distracted by what had happened at the Library with Ron, he might have had heard all the commotion behind him and Malfoy getting punished for doing something that he didn't do. No one in the hall said anything to defend him. Malfoy had done plenty of things, which saw innocent people get in trouble for what he had done and most people saw it as revenge from above. 

(A/N: Nothing like a bit of Malfoy bashing to get me going in the morning...guess what it's two days before X-Mas. I'm looking forward to a lot of rewrites and stuff.... Namely a lot of new chapter)

Ron wasn't there at lunchtime... but then again Harry didn't really want to talk to Ron. At seven in the afternoon Hermione showed up with Ron in the common room. Ron apologises for his behaviour towards Harry and says that he'll try to get the matter sorted. 

Hermione was oblivious to the fact that she was the reason the friends had the outburst and neither of them would tell her why they had fought. " Well, I hope you guys did all you school homework because tomorrow we have school" said Hermione, as her eyes glazed over.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
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	21. CH 21: The New Potions teacher!

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 21/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 21  
**Chapter Name:** The New Potions teacher!

When Harry and rest of the Gryffindor house walked into the Potions class they found it almost empty. The class wasn't scheduled to start for another five minutes but because of the loud argument between Harry and Hermione on a Dueling move the whole house had woken up about half an hour before they were supposed to. 

The Gryffindor students as usual, took their seat as far back as they could from the front of the room without actually going out side the room. Harry took his usual seat between Hermione and Ron with Neville on the other side of Hermione.

When Malfoy and rest of the Slytherins came into the room, they mumbled something as they passed the table where Harry and his friends were sitting. Malfoy headed for a table that was occupied by Pansy Parkinson. Usually she would be all over Malfoy trying to get his affection but today she had decided she was too good for him. As soon as Malfoy sat down on the table she got up and took a seat next to one of her other friends. 

This was a surprise that they didn't go unnoticed by either of the houses but they said nothing about it. But the day would hold many more surprises that neither Harry nor the Gryffindors could have had seen coming.

A man dressed in bright green robes and nicely parted black shoulder length hair entered the room. The Slytherins were puzzled to see that the man took a seat in what used to be Professor Snape's table. He started to look through the scrolls rolled neatly on one side of the table. Malfoy felt as the Slytherin prefect, he should ask what this stranger was doing. He stood up and was about to say something when the stranger used Professor Snape's voice and said without looking up, "Mr. Malfoy. Can I help you?". 

The Slytherins were about as much shocked as a person can be before they die. But the Gryffindors knew the man's identity, before he even before he entered the room. The Gryffindors all had memorised the distinct tap noise his shoes made every six steps, the noise that he made as he took his customary deep breath upon entering the dungeon where the class was always held. 

Harry had always assumed that Professor Snape did that to fill him self up with the fear and anxiety of the Gryffindor students. But the one thing that was etched in their brain, more than any other, was the rustling sound his robes made when he would use his left index finger to scratch his bottom once after he entered. So they knew even before he had entered that this man was definitely Professor Snape.

" Good Morning Class. Beautiful day today isn't it" Snape had a silly grin plastered all over his face as he looked through the crowd of students in the class. He did a double take when he saw that Harry was actually on time and reading his Potions book with much enthusiasm. " I came home particularly late... No need to bore you with my life details 

(A/N: remember this part and his behaviour...this whole Chapter is Snape's nice side, there is a bad one. I'll share him later. He hehehehehehehe) 

... First order of business today is the official speech that I am obliged to give you." He took out a piece of paper and started to read out. 

" The OWL were first...." the speech was about when and how the OWL came into being, what was required of them and what they were expected to do. It took almost one and half an hour to get through it. Much to his annoyance only two people in the whole class was looking at him when he had finished. And they were Harry and Hermione. 

The rest were either concentrating on their quill or something on the floor or the ceiling. Malfoy was trying to cosy up to the girl that came and sat with him after Pansy left. Her name was, as Harry recalled from his very first year, Blaise Zabini. Though Snape saw it he did absolutely nothing to stop it. If two Gryffindors were just sitting closer to each other than normal he would have had put both of them in detention. 

" Ahem" he coughed a loud false one to get everyone's attention. " Now that I have finished my official act... From the looks on your face a lot of you had a good holiday others however did their homework. 

He gave Neville a look, making him shriek. * That was a good start of the year* thought Snape, when he heard the nervous Gryffindor make the noise. 

" It's hard to believe that even the laziest and clumsiest amongst you have started to work harder now since the OWLS are this year. " Mr. Longbottom, I was shocked beyond belief to see that you actually wrote something that made sense, though half the questions weren't answered or done properly. It was a proud day for the Gryffindors, when you finally managed to do a homework without Ms. Granger telling you the answers." 

Most of the Slytherins broke out in laughter. He then went through all the student's work until there was only four left. Harry, Ron, Hermione and the teachers pet Malfoy.

" Mr. Weasley... did you have a good holiday? Don't answer that question. I can see by the shabby work that you handed in. It was barely any better than Mr. Longbottom's. The only thing you made progress in answering the questions was getting all the spelling right. Another big achievement for the Gryffindor House. Three points off the Gryffindors for poor structure of the essay, one for content and two for neatness." He threw Ron's paper at him. 

" Now I come to Ms. Know-it-all-Granger.... Oh look you've had a hair cut. I was wondering how long it will take you to realise that long bushy hair only suits a mountain gorilla." 

Malfoy burst into laughter at this, as did a few of the Slytherins. Most didn't since they had seen her fight and were afraid that they might get thrown into the same Dueling class as her. They knew Hermione had a great memory and were pretty sure that if they did laugh at her she would rememebr. They didn't know whether Hermione would attack them really hard when she had a chance, but they had no intention of finding out. 

Hermione seemed rather unmoved by the comment unlike Ron who had to be restrained by Harry so that he didn't say anything to Snape. There was no reason to loose anymore points than they already had. Snape continued in his snobbish tone of voice though he had seen Harry restrain Ron.

" I do seem to remember telling you that the essay was supposed to be only three scrolls. I wasn't surprised to see that you handed in nine scrolls of very...very small writing. Ten points off the Gryffindors for Ms. Grangers disobedience."

He then looked back and forth between Malfoy and Harry, before finally holding up one of the two papers left in his hand. " This paper,.." he said " When I read this paper, I was surprised. It was clearly written, thoroughly researched though not as much as Ms. Granger's, then again no ones ever is. Not only did this paper cover all the points I listed in the assignment sheet it covered one that I had over looked before handing out the assignment sheets." Malfoy looked very happy to hear the praises and was positively beaming. 

" ... Imagine my surprise when I find that it was written by none other than our resident celebrity, Mr. Potter." Harry's name came out of Snape's mouth with a hiss. Everyone in the class looked at Harry like he was Lord Voldemort. " Even the penmanship was good. Three and three fifth points off the Gryffindors for Mr. Potter's inability to write his name in a clear way at the front of the scrolls as asked, instead of putting them on the back of the scrolls."

Malfoy so socked when he heard that the only thing his archenemy did wrong was the fact that he was written the name in the wrong place. But that was not the only surprise for him. Professor Snape was looking at his class pet like a vermin. " Mr. Malfoy good essay. I expected more from one of my own." 

Harry's face had changed from normal to pale white to pale white with a sickening shade of red. He had expected a lot of thing for Professor Snape to criticise. The Gryffindor were shocked enough that most of their mouth hung open. Ron looked like he had been petrified. Hermione was the only person in the room who wasn't surprised. She patted him on the back and said, " I told you. Hard work always pays off."

" That's enough public show of affection, Ms. Granger." Hermione blushed and removed her hand from Harry's back. " Now I have a treat for all of you. There is going to be a quiz session now. Every right answer saves the Gryffindors from getting a detention and the Slytherins a point. Wrong answers are automatic detentions. Just to make it interesting I choose the representative from each of the houses."

Everyone was certain Professor Snape would pick Neville for Gryffindors and Malfoy for the Slytherins. Neville expecting this quickly jumped off his seat and hid under the table. But that day was the day of surprises. 

" Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, make you way to the front of the room. Ms. Granger I want you to look the other way since I have a feeling that you'll tell Mr. Potter something, if I'm not looking." Hermione looked offended at the suggestion, however true it might have had been. Hermione would have had tried to give answers to Harry.

Harry and Malfoy took the seats that Professor Snape had pointed towards each of them. " Name two potions that involve the tree of life? Gryffindor."

" Wolfsbane and Soul inhibitor Potion" said Harry nonchalantly. Professor Snape was surprised to see him answer the question but went to the next question after recovering quickly.

" Name two uses of Boomslang? Slytherin" the Gryffindors were outraged. They had just done an essay on the topic so it was hardly fair that the Slytherins would get to answer questions based on that while Professor Snape asked questions that might well been a few years ahead. " Narcotic agent and cleaning agent" answered Malfoy.

" This on question isn't on the sheet... Mr. Potter name the main ingredients of the Soul inhibitor potion?"

" Blood of Chimera and a Bach from the tree of life." 

" For thirty points for your house Mr. Malfoy I would like you to answer the following question. Name a requirement of the Polyjuice potion?"

" Something like a hair sample of the intended person"

" Good work. Thirty points to the Slytherins..." He looked at Harry and said,

" Mr. Potter if you can answer this I'll award your house thirty points and if you don't I'll give you a detention. But if you answer, and it's wrong, then your Gryffindor buddies would be in detention."

Harry thought that he knew how sinister Snape could be, but the last comment made him appear a close second to Lord Voldemort himself. " While you enjoy a nice relaxing day."

" What's the Question?" asked Harry a bit worried. 

" That's the catch. You don't know. So do you give up or answer?" answered back Professor Snape with an evil smirk on his face. Harry took a fraction of a second to think it through. Snape was definitely trying to get him to get a detention. He decided that he wanted to try anyway. " I'll answer." 

There was a loud cry from Neville who said, " Don't do it Harry."

" What is the purpose of the Soul Inhibitor Potion and name five different side effects? Mr. Potter"

Hermione's heart jumped. * I should have had told him about side effects. He won't know any... * thought Hermione as she tried to calm her panicked mind. 

" Takes away pain from the person. Effective only if administered within ten minutes of the start of the pain." Harry did a quick glance at Hermione and then looked straight at the wall before answering, " Vomiting, Passing out, twitching of the left big toe." 

A small pause led Professor Snape to believe that Harry could not think of the rest. He was getting ready to celebrate, when Harry, like his father a long time ago, destroyed his plans. " In a man it causes them to grow toe hair. In a woman between the ages of thirteen and sixty-nine it increases hormonal level. It basically leaves a woman unable to bear children for approximately a five year period or to be exact 1509 days."

Harry saw the look on the faces of many of the boys and thought, * No use guys. The girls had to be in severe pain before you can administer it*

He inwardly smiled at the boys who looked like had taken a mental note to remember the name of the potion.

Hermione's heart jumped. * He knew. He didn't tell me. Why would he do that? * 

Her face started to turn red when she heard, " I'm surprised Mr. Potter. It's almost as if you have had experience with the potion yourself." 

" No sir. It was in one of the books that Mr. Pas- I mean Professor Pasha gave me." Came the quick reply from Harry. 

Professor Snape desperately didn't want to give any points to the Gryffindor house. He started to grasp at straws, like he always did. "Oh so you admit that you had a teacher's help in preparing for the test. I'm afraid I'll have to take five points off the Gryffindors for cheating." 

Everyone knew what Professor Snape was doing, but they dared not to say anything. Harry could have had said something, but he really didn't care how many points Snape took off, as there was no way Professor Snape could stop Harry and rest of the Gryffindors from getting them back in other classes. Snape's eyes twinkled and his smile went even more evil then it was before. 

The quiz session lasted for another five minutes in which time Harry didn't miss a single question, but Snape didn't offer any extra points to either of the houses. He had made the mistake of underestimating Harry's intelligence once; he wasn't about to do it again. Not this soon after he mad the first one. Deep inside.... Granted very very very deep inside, he felt proud that Harry was beginning to show Lily's prowess in potions.

More than his life, Professor Snape hoped that Harry was strong enough to defeat Lord Voldemort. His hatred for the dark lord was only equal to that of a few people. Harry was amongst them. The dark lord had taken so much from him, so many he cared greatly about. Though he knew that Lily, as his first love was amongst them, she was not the reason he had switched allegiances during the darker times of Lord Voldemort's rule. 

His reasons for changing sides were to do with an even that occurred about six months before the downfall of the Dark lord. To this day, events of that night haunted his dreams. So much so for the last fifteen years he had been taking a potion to go to a dreamless sleep. (The reason for his greasy hair) But recently something happened that made his life a much better thing. He noticed it a few days ago that he had forgotten to take his potion, before going to sleep. Yet he dreamed not of the event of that night, but of.....

(A/N: You'll find out later. I can see the wheels turning your head. Yes, you probably guessed it right. If you thought it was ****************. I'm not telling you if you don't know. The thing that really made Snape switch sides was not the Lily's life being in danger. What really happened on that night that Snape switched sides is going to be a focal point of the next book. "Eternal Night".

Snape was over Lily a long time ago. He might have had joined the deatheaters, spurned by Lily, but the reason for his defection was different.) 

After the quiz session there was only fifteen minutes of the class left and it was abnormally normal. Neville managed to spill his cauldron three times (a record for him). Professor Snape had paired Harry with Pansy Parkinson and she was behaving like a klutz. The only thing that was any different than his normal potion class was the fact that Hermione was avoiding looking at Harry.

* She must be a little embarrassed about her situation... I'll have to have a talk with her soon * thought Harry as he busied himself with the cauldron. From time to time, he patted his right hand side pocket in his cloak to see if the cushioning charm inside was still working. There was something long and thin in there, but someone had to watch for a long time to see.

Once the class was finished, Harry saw Hermione leave so quickly out the door that she didn't notice leaving her potions book behind. He was about to leave the room when he remembered what he had for Snape. He turned to where Ron had been standing to give him the book to give it to Hermione when he saw that Ron was already halfway to catching up with Hermione.

Professor Snape was sitting at his desk and busily going over the lesson plan for his next class while he took minuscule bites from the sandwich in his right hand. " ... yes, Potter can I do something for you?" there was a bitterness in it as always but it was less than it was usually. 

" Sir. I stayed with Professor Pasha during the holidays..." Harry started to say but was interrupted by Snape

" So what. I stayed with my cousin Balthazar. Get to the point Potter."

" He told me the story of how you were friends with my mother even though most of the Slytherins and shamefully the her own housemates hated and picked on her. I would like to express my deepest thanks to you for the invaluable friendship that you no doubt provided her with. As a token of my thanks I would like you to accept this." It was a bowl and a small round bit of stone.

Professor Snape was confounded but when he saw what the boy had given him he was ready to die. " Potter, is this what I think it is?" Professor Snape was shaking uncontrollably when he saw a golden crest on the side of the stone bowl. 

" An original Mortar and Pestle made by the famous Alchemist Methyl Magda. I know he died in the Shozar wars and all his works lost... I found it on the streets of Morocco and thought you might like it." 

" How much did it cost? Even you can't afford this..." he looked at Harry as he put down the stone bowl from his shaking hands. " It's well over twenty thousand galleons worth..."

* Not to mention it's priceless to a true potions aficionado like myself* thought Snape. 

" You don't have to think of the cost. I'm giving it to you for all that you did for my mother. This is no way anything other than to say my thanks for being there for my mom." As Harry left he thought he heard a mumbled thanks as he left but dismissed the concept of Snape of ever saying thanks to him.

(A/N: There is a reason... very entertaining reason for Snape's good mood.....

Yes you heard right GOOD MOOD. You'll see what his bad mood is like later.) 

As soon as he was out of the classroom, Harry ran towards the secret passageway that he remembered lead right to the great hall. Less than twenty seconds into the passageway, he tripped on something small inside the dimly lighted passageway and fell on top of a person. * Great Merlin! Three days and I'm still tripping on top of people. If this is another girl I'm definitely doing a curse removal ceremony* 

He looked down to see the face of Hermione Granger. With an exasperated sigh he got to his feet very fast. He was a bit too fast, so when he slipped on the back of his robes, he didn't have enough time to actually try and recover. He looked up and saw Hermione trying to stifle a giggle as she offered her hand. He took it. Hermione as it would seemed to have forgotten that she was trying to avoid

Harry.

" Thanks... Nice to see you haven't taken off in the other direction" said

Harry.

Hermione blushed at the comment. She knew Harry had found out the common side effects of the potion. She was hoping against all hopes that Harry wouldn't know why the Chimera blood made a woman unable to bear children for five years. As if sensing what she had thought Harry replied, " Don't worry... I didn't tell anyone about the potion." 

Harry suddenly got a very mischievous grin before saying, " You're free to go on sex rampage anytime you feel..." He didn't get to finish the sentence when she punched him on the arm very fast and very hard. " OW." He said grabbing his arm where she had hurt him and started to rub it. Even when it hurt he didn't stop grinning at her.

* Why does he always smile like that?* thought Hermione.

" I just hit you and you're hurting. So why in the hell are you grinning like an idiot?" she asked.

" Because... now you're normal. Well..." he was going to add something more to make her hit him again but thought it was better that he didn't. " Nah... you're too easy. Here take this." Hermione looked at what Harry offered her from one of the pockets of his cloak. It was a small vial with a glowing green potion inside. 

" You know about 'Purifying Solutions' too?" she asked astounded. Before that day she hadn't realised how much work Harry had actually done over the summer.

" Of course I do. Didn't you think I would do my research properly?" Harry saw Hermione blush. " It's your own fault. If you hadn't made me do all that study in the holidays..."

" ...my fault" she burst up in anger. " As I recall someone wanted their powers to grow." Hermione retorted before realising Harry had done that just to provoke her from the grin he had plastered all over his face. She didn't stay mad long.

She emptied the solution in her mouth and waited for a green glow to appear. She glowed green, for about a second and then she was cured of one of the dreaded side effect that Harry didn't tell Professor Snape.

This one is related to the one about not being able to bear children. The potion increased the sexual appetite of the females. It eventually becomes too much for the person to handle and some people end up St. Mungo's hospital. The headmaster told Hermione of this, since even she didn't know of this particular part of the side effect, on her first day at Hogwarts that year. She then realised that this might have had been the reason that Professor Pasha owled the people making the potion for her everyday since they got back. 

But she didn't have to worry about it any more since Harry had thought to buy it when they were in Morocco though he didn't tell anyone about it. How Harry had got hold of the purifying potion, when it took several weeks to make one was a total mystery to Hermione, but she decided that it was a mystery she had no problem not getting an answer to.

" Thanks" she said. She gave Harry a small peck on the cheek and started to walk back toward the exit. Harry quickly wiped away the area where she had kissed him. 

" Did you have to do it?" he asked a little annoyed. His friend knew he didn't like being kissed or hugged for to long and this one was definitely not necessary in Harry's opinion.

" Let's go we have transfiguration next..." she said as she started to walk to the next class. 

" But I haven't had my lunch yet..." even as he said this Harry started to look around for something to turn into a bread. The he though about how long he spent talking with Hermione and Snape and realised that there was still over twenty minutes left. " Hey..." he stopped and started to walk the other way.

Hermione noticed that the footsteps that were following her a few seconds ago were going the opposite way. " Where are you going?" She asked, rushing to catch up to him. 

" You just want to see Professor McGonagall again. I need food. I didn't have that much in the morning and all the tension in Potions class took it's toll." Harry started to move even faster. Hermione had a hard time keeping up and when they finally entered the Great Hall there were a few people about. 

Ron was taking part in a contest to see who actually can eat more pieces of the strawberry short cake. (A/N: I love these things...the cakes I mean. Not the contest) Lavender was winning. 

Hermione and Harry were both disgusted at the sight of them stuffing food in their mouth like that and decided to seat as far from the pair as humanly possible. Harry only at a little bit as he was thinking about the summer assignment for Transfiguration. It was to find out about the way to becoming an animagus. The topic was not what the students of the previous years had done. His thoughts about transfiguration were interrupted when Hermione tapped on his shoulder to tell him it was time they left for next class.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
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	22. CH 22: The Stone of Haguba & the Ferret ...

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 22/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 22  
**Chapter Name:** The Stone of Haguba & the Ferret scaring

On the way to the first transfiguration class of the year Ron made a lot of noise about spending all of Monday with the Slytherins. Hermione felt the same way but Harry just didn't care whether they were there or not. When they entered they saw the Slytherins had already taken one side of the class so the Gryffindors chose the other side. Ron, Hermione and Harry sat on the front row.

Professor McGonagall entered the room with a small package in her hand, which she put down on a stand that she made appear out of thin air. " Good afternoon class." She said as she looked around the class. 

Her eyes froze when she saw Harry. * Merlin's Ghost! He looks like the exact duplicate of his father... I wish he were as good as that in his transfiguration class... Well he'll get there this year, if he sticks to what he's been doing. *

" I know you all did well in your summer homework. Ten points to both Slytherin and the Gryffindor houses. " This got a big cheer from the Slytherins as now they were ahead of the Gryffindors by over seventy points and they only had one class. 

" Settle down class. I have to go over your homework with you." She turned her face to Hermione and said, " Excellent research as always Ms. Granger. Your writing was as always very conscious and clear. This paper might be included as a part of the future textbook if I have my way. There was two very surprising papers amongst the rest of you. Mr. Longbottom." She looked at Neville with awe and respect. 

" I was really impressed with the details in your description of how Goderic Gryffindor felt the first time he transformed into the Lion. I dare say you would do well in class this year." Neville was stumped. He had never been very good at transfiguration and would have had dropped it in the first year had he a chance.

" Thank you..." was all he could say when she handed his paper back. 

She the turned to face Harry. " The other paper was done by Mr. Potter. It was very good. I'm sorry but I had initially thought it was either plagiarised or written by someone else. I see Ms. Granger has had a good influence on you.."

The whole class turned to Harry when they heard that. Harry's ears were beginning to get red. Professor McGonagall took no notice of the surroundings nor of Harry's growing redness. " Spending the holidays at Ms. Grangers house was a good idea. I have never seen a student with middle of the range marks to hand in work that almost rivals that of Ms. Granger's essay. I shudder to think what you could have had achieved had you been more focused on your studies from the beginning. Ten points for both Ms. Granger and Mr. Potter. Twenty points for Mr. Longbottom."

Neville had thought getting the praise from normally strict Professor McGonagall would make his, day but he hardly knew what hit him when his homework got the house twenty whole points. The only other time he had got any points was in his first year when he tried to stop Harry and two of his friends from going after the Philosopher's stone.

Several of the girls had imagined being in the same house as Harry all day long with nothing to do and they were jealous of her. They all started to send her daggers from their eyes and if looks could kill Hermione would have had died a hundred deaths in the short time it took Professor McGonagall to tell the class about whose house he had stayed in.

Professor McGonagall then turned to look at Ron, who watched as both his friends turned pink. " Mr. Weasley, Your assignment was surprisingly easy to read and comprehend even though you didn't have Ms. Granger's help in writing it. Five points to the Gryffindors." She did all the other students until only Malfoy was left. " Mr. Malfoy this homework is not up to your usual standard. I'm afraid I'll have to deduct five points from the Slytherin house for your drop in academic standards... I expected you to produce the second best in the class, but I was very disappointed by your lack of effort."

" Well now that we've lost almost one third of the class time I suggest we pick up the pace." Said Professor McGonagall, as she went to the stand where the package was and carefully revealed its content. It was a bright yellow stone, which sometimes glowed randomly. 

A few seconds after it's exposure the glow of the stone seeped out of the stone and swirled around the stone in the air around it. Professor McGonagall spoke something that Harry didn't hear but from Hermione's eager hand he could tell that it was a question. Professor McGonagall smiled and asked her to answer the question. 

Hermione got up from her chair and said, " It's the Haguba stone. It works as a means of testing whether or not a person can become a Animagi and displays the creature suited for the person to become."

" Good answer Hermione. Now we could use a simple potion to do this but it is an extremely painful process to go through. I'll demonstrate the use of the stone..." she touched the stone and a ghost form of herself appeared in front of her. Neville let out a shriek. It took a second for the translucent Professor McGonagall to quickly turn into a cat. The cat made a small meow and jumped toward the real Professor McGonagall before vanishing in mid air. " Now Slytherins first. Remember even if you have no Animagi form you can still do wand assisted transformations, so don't be disheartened."

Only two of the Slytherins had any effect on the stone. The first one was

Pansy Parkinson. She walked up to the stone confidently and put her had on the stone. Her ghost image appeared, (Harry thought it looked like the ghost self of her, might have been a lot easier to talk to then the real one) and after a second, spent looking at the class, she (the ghost) transformed into a Monarch Butterfly. 

The real Pansy looked through her tear filled eyes at the beautiful butterfly flap its wings and move all over the class room. When the butterfly settled on Harry's nose, she turned pink (real one) and the butterfly vanished. She walked back to the line of Slytherins on her side of the room slowly under the hateful gaze of her fellow housemates. Malfoy looked furious when he saw that her butterfly form had landed on Harry's nose. But said nothing, as he was the next person to touch the stone.

What happened next... surprised a lot of people. Malfoy put his hand on the stone and his ghost form appeared. It stood there a few seconds and looked around the room. It seemed it was checking to see if anyone was looking. Then the ghost form of Draco turned in to a ferret. Malfoy was horrified, but the whole class burst into laughter... including his fellow housemates. They remembered Professor Moody turning him into a ferret as a punishment. Professor McGonagall let out a laugh too before she composed herself. " Settle down class. Now the Gryffindor. First up... Ms. Brown."

Lavender was quite surprised to see that her Animagi form was a Parrot, though it didn't really didn't surprise people because of the way she and Parvati always gossiped. There was not Animagi form for neither Ron nor Parvati and seemed quite upset by it. In both cases Professor McGonagall reminded them that they can still do wand-based transformations, and people without Animagi abilities are usually better at that. When it was Hermione's turn Harry quickly patted her on the back and wished her good luck. Hermione's hand shook as she placed it on the stone. 

To everyone's surprise Hermione's ghost started to examine the real Hermione for a little bit. * Just like her. Always looking into how things work * though Harry fondly.

Then the ghost form of Hermione turned into an exact duplicate of Professor McGonagall's cat. Then the cat did something none of the other transformed ghost-animals had done before. The fur changed its colours. It became light grey with tiger stripes. The cat the jumped onto Harry's table. Harry had one chance to pet the cat once before the image faded. 

When Hermione took her hand off the stone she was greeted with the claps from Professor McGonagall. " Class, Hermione is what is called 'spotter'. They have the ability to switch between two markings in the same animal. It a very rare ability and only come to very strong wizards and witches." 

Hermione beamed as she went back to her seat. Hermione got a big hug from everyone of the Gryffindors though Ron seemed a bit rigid. Dean and Seamus went next. Unfortunately neither one had any ability and quite oppositely to what Ron and Parvati went through they were very happy. 

Harry assumed that they were happy since they figured being good at wand based Animagi gave them a wider selection of animals to become. It was Neville who was next. Neville was shaking as he went to the stone. Malfoy probably would have had made a joke about Neville, but he remembered that he had turned into a ferret.

When Neville put his hand on the stone a ghost form emerged that looked more confident that the real one. The ghost form gave the real one a hug and started to walk towards Malfoy. In mid step he transformed into a lion that looked a lot like the one on all Gryffindor crests. 

(A/N: I had the idea of making him into a tiger... specifically to make him into a Royal Bengal Tiger but my little brother told me to do a Lion instead. Two days ago I read a fic that had the same thing happening to Neville. I was going to make him any animal that was capable of scaring the hell out of Malfoy. I just thought I should clarify it.)

The lion roared at Malfoy causing him to fall from his chair. Malfoy for a small amount of time thought that the translucent lion was going to attack him and so he scrambled backwards until he was backed up against the wall. The lion went right up to Malfoy's face and let out one more roar before disappearing. The whole class was shocked to see that Neville's animagus form was a lion.

Pansy Parkinson started to clap first before all the Gryffindors joined in. Everyone assumed that the reason for Pansy's clapping was that he had managed to scare the hell out of Malfoy. Her ex. 

But the truth was even more surprising then anyone could have had guessed. When he transformed she saw in him what no one else saw. Potential. 

(A/N: I know I'm evil, but this will let me do two very funny scenes. You'll love when you read it.)

Professor McGonagall asked for silence and the class quickly settled down.

" Mr. Longbottom... That was quite some transformation. The only other Lion in the registry had been Goderic Gryffindor himself. I do hope you decide to take up the challenge." She looked at Neville for a few more seconds before deciding that she should get back to the task at hand. 

" Now Mr. Potter It appears you are the last person."

Harry knew no matter how hard he tried, he was unique and bound to do something that no one expects of him. He knew when it was his turn that he was going to do something that would make him the conversation topic of months to come. So it didn't surprise him when the whole class had to turn their head away as Harry's hand approached the stone. Upon touching the liquid aura erupted and drenched the whole room in an unearthly shade of yellow light. 

For the first second nothing happened. But then a searing pain went through his entire body. He could feel every cell in his body scream out in pain. Even with the intense training that he went through to get used to Hermione Astral Projecting with him in Morocco, he had never come across pain as bad as this before. The Cruciatus curse seemed like a harmless tickle against this and no longer able to stand it; he screamed in pain. It was heard all over the castle and windows with magical glass shattered in classes up and down and across the hall. 

Then, as suddenly as the pain arrived, it was gone. It wasn't like the times when he learned to overcome the pain like he had done with AstralProjection. No. This was more like 'here one second gone the next'. He wanted to collapse to the floor but the stone wouldn't let him. Neither would it allow Harry to take his hand off it. He looked to where his two friends were and saw that Ron and Neville were working hard to stop Hermione from going to Harry's aid. 

* No doubt afraid that Hermione would also go through same kind of pain.* though Harry as he tried to make eye contact with Hermione. 

When she did make eye contact he mouthed the words, "Don't worry". This calmed her down immensely, as she let herself be moved to her seat by Ron and Neville. Right then three shimmering three shimmering ghost forms of Harry emerge from the Haguba stone.

The ghost forms of Harry shook each other's hands before arguing for a second as to who would go first. Their discussion was done in parseltongue and as such no one in the class knew what they were talking about, except for Harry who knew what was to come and prepared himself for the inevitable return of the days of his second year at Hogwarts. 

The first Harry went over to Harry's original table and sat down on it rather than the chair. It then morphed into an exact duplicate of the cat that both Professor McGonagall and Hermione. The cat the walked over to Hermione's table and changed his markings like Hermione had done. Hermione tentatively reached out to pet it but it vanished before she could touch it.

The next Harry went to the back of the room and transformed into a dolphin floating in imaginary water. It did a flip in the air above the imaginary water before disappearing and leaving the field open for the third and last Harry to transform. As soon as the dolphin was gone all eyes fell up on the real Harry. The only remaining ghost form of Harry seemed happy at this fact, until all the attention fell upon him. 

The Ghost-Harry groaned and then started to run towards the side that had mild sunlight streaming through it. Most of the students thought, this Harry didn't want to do the transformation, as they knew the real Harry was reluctant to show off. Everyone got out off their seat and followed the ghost version of Harry. When they reached the window, they saw a blinding while flash. Once they saw what it was they scrambled to the back of the room. They were all afraid of the creature that was on the other side of the glass. 

It was a dragon. 

Hermione had been the last person to get to the window but she didn't runaway from the dragon like the others had. The Dragon unlike all the other ghost transformations appeared to be almost solid. 

The dragon had iridescent, pearly scales and glittering multicoloured pupil less eyes. There was a lightning shaped scar that started from above the left eye and finished a bit lower than the bottom lid, giving it the look of being wiser and more battle hardened than it really was. The dragon backed away from the broken window and fired its purple flames at the Quidditch field. Noting really happened since it was all an illusion. Hermione knew which dragon it was and knew for a fact that unless the dragon wasn't provoked it wouldn't harm a human, but that was hardly a problem since it was all an illusion.

"Antipodean Opaleye" said Hermione. 

The large Dragon blinked its eye once as if to agree with Hermione. The dragon then twisted its body around and headed for the sun. It vanished in mid flight. As soon as the dragon was gone every one looked at Harry like he knew they would. * At least this time they wouldn't think I tried to kill someone * though

Harry, seeing only one positive out of the situation.

Professor McGonagall checked to see if Harry was alright before saying, " That... That was extra ordinary... I have to tell Professor Dumbledore." She started to move towards the door but the door opened first. It was Professor Dumbledore.

" I don't think that would be necessary Minerva. If I may I would like to take

Ms. Granger and Mr. Potter with me." 

" Of course" she said rather reluctantly. She wanted to see the last transformation again but she couldn't refuse the headmaster's request. " Harry and Hermione, please go with Professor Dumbledore" she waited a second and said " take your bags, I seriously doubt you'll be coming back here today."

Harry and Hermione left the room together, leaving Ron alone to brew in his own jealousy. He knew it wasn't Harry's fault that he attracted so much attention but he was jealous of the fact that all the attention in the class was now focused on his two best friends, instead of just one.

Professor Dumbledore led them to a room they had never seen before though the entrance to the room was very close to the entrance of the kitchen. The door wasn't really a door, rather stones of slightly darker tone.

" Rocket fuel" said Professor Dumbledore at wall. 

Amazingly the bricks on the wall came to life. They grew matching arms, legs, eyes, ear, and a mouth before they scrambled behind the three. The 'brick-men' (or brick-people for the politically correct) started to complain loudly amongst themselves about being woken up so quickly after they had their lunch.

* I wonder what happens to the door when they are at their lunch, for that matter what do they eat and drink* thought Hermione. 

Once in the room the little brick people quickly lied down one on top of another until the wall was back again. Professor Dumbledore snapped his fingers and three comfortable looking chairs appeared. Professor Dumbledore and Hermione took them immediately but Harry looked at the seat like it was a hot element. Professor Dumbledore changed Harry's seat into a school stool. Harry's face burst into a big smile as he took the chair. " Thanks" he said.

" It's my pleasure Harry.... Now on to the business at hand." 

He looked back and forth between Harry and Hermione. He waited a few seconds to organise his thoughts before saying, 

" I guess you both know that you're quite unique... No that would be putting in very lightly. Hermione you are a very strong witch, I knew it the day you got that 125% in your first year. ... And now being a spotter just proved my point. I really didn't think I would ever see a spotter again, let alone two. Both in Gryffindor as well." There was an unmistakable pride in his voice.

Professor Dumbledore then focused his gaze on Harry. " There have been only two people in the world that managed do what you did. Both of you I assume know about Merlin..." 

Harry and Hermione both nodded. Of course they knew about him. He was the father of all the wizards around the world.

" None before Merlin could cast spells or work magic without the permission of the Goddess of magic 'Mauve'. Merlin was the very first Wizard and from him spawned all the wizards that you see today. He cast a spell to find people with the qualifications he thought they needed to be a magician. He opened up the mystical world for all those with the gift to see.... I'm going off the track. He was the only magician who ever transformed into a magical creature not only that he could transform himself into five different dragons. Each endowed with unique abilities. 

Professor Dumbledore paused to look back, almost like he was remembering a piece of his past. " It is said that the Opaleye Dragons were his creation, and it was this one that he had transformed into when he finally finished off Mauve. You also have the ability to do more than one animal. Animagus ability is rare but among those who have this ability the ability to do more than one animal is very common. It is rare for people with talents such as those that you two possess, choose to do animagus training at all." 

" Why?" asked Harry and Hermione both in unison.

" Animagus training is hard. Sometimes it takes a fully-grown wizard/witch to train for almost a year before he or she can usually train for about eight months before they can do it with sufficient speed. The procedure can be very painful without the presence of a ProTem. Those of your friends who choose to train to be an Animagus would have to work at it both this year and they the year after that."

" The reason why so many choose not to go through the training is because, those who have the ability to assume more than animal, the pain is much more seveare. It's even more for those who can change their marking. Most prefer to learn wand based transformation which is not really painful though takes about six to seven months to get through."

" So where do we go from here?" asked Harry.

" Depends if you want to become an Animagus or not... If one of you decide in favour of it I'll teach him or her how to do it."

" I want to do it." Said Hermione eager for a new challenge.

" Me too" chimed in Harry quickly.

" Ok..." Dumbledore smiled and said, " this is how it'll work. Your training to be an Animagus is different from what the rest of the class is going to learn. The first few weeks will be spent learning the ProTem spell. Once that's done I'll show both how to help the other in their transformation. Now do either of you have any questions?"

Hermione eagerly put up her hand " I have one. When do we start?" 

Harry snorted out with laughter at Hermione's question. Apparently, Hermione didn't think her enthusiasm to answer the question by Professor Dumbledore was as funny as what Harry found it to be. Her displeasure would only get worse when Professor Dumbledore joined Harry in laughing, though he had the good sense to stop when he saw Hermione's eyes were set on killing mode. 

Harry on the other hand was stupid enough to continue laughing at her when she was obviously getting more riled up.

" Ahem... I'm sorry Hermione" said Professor Dumbledore to stop a fight that he could see coming from a mile away and he wasn't sure if the two students would actually even remember that he was there. " You just reminded me of someone... Well, anyway to answer your question; We'll start right now. First lets get rid of these chairs..." with that their journey into the exciting world of Animagi began.

When the class finally finished neither Harry nor Hermione managed to get the

ProTem spell correct. As Harry and Hermione made their way through the crowd of students nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The usual cluster of girls that had followed him the day before was back and they all wanted to go out with him. 

His polite refusal only made the girls want him more. Harry wasn't sure if they were after him or if they wanted to win the challenge of getting his first date. 

It was of little surprise to Hermione, but a great deal to Harry, when two of the more senior girls started to fight physically.

" Hey stop it..." said Harry as he put himself between the two girls.

" She started it..." said the beautiful Seventh year Ravenclaw.

" No she did..." said the equally beautiful 6th year Hufflepuff girl before trying to lunge towards the other girl.

" Hey Stop it!" yelled Hermione in the middle of the scene with Harry trying to keep the two girls apart. " Harry's still worn out from the fight with the Nundu... try again in a few weeks time. I promise he'll be a lot more receptive then" Hermione then dragged Harry out of the middle of the two girls who decided that Hermione was right and took off in opposite directions when left.

" I can't believe it... a seventh year and a sixth year girl were fighting over me!" said Harry with a dumbfounded look on his face.

" It's not you they're going after...in a way." said Hermione.

" What're they after then?"

" You really don't notice the effect you have around girls do you. Remember sorting... did you see them winking..."

Harry only managed to nod shyly.

" Well the reason all the girls were winking at you was because they had just seen you half naked and they liked what they saw" Hermione blushed very slightly and said, " It was your own fault... you should have had bought new clothes in Morocco." At this point Harry noticed that he was in the corridor leading to the Gryffindor common room and Ron was headed their way.

" Harry you alright?" asked Ron obviously referring to the incident with the Haguba stone. If the voice didn't sound so hollow to Harry he might have actually believed that Ron cared about what happened to him. But Harry didn't care whether or not it was hollow or not he had decided long ago to let Ron get away with it.

" I'm fine... tell me what happened after I left?" 

Ron told Harry and Hermione everything that happened. " Well after you left

Professor McGonagall explained why the stone had that odd reaction to you -"

" Why?" interrupted Hermione.

" Well it supposed to hurt a little when you can do more than one animal. But nothing like what you went through. She thinks because of that Dragon transformation..." 

Ron wanted the attention of the group to focus on him once more so he said, " Well anyway... Neville and Pansy were the only two who wanted to be animagus. Malfoy and Pansy had a huge fight after the class when she offered to be... well that'll be putting it too lightly... she practically ordered Neville to make her, his ProTem" he paused and snorted out with laughter. " Lavender didn't want the job and Pansy was the only one who could do it. For a moment it looked like Neville was going to decline being an animagus when she actually told him she would kill him if she didn't have a ProTem. ...poor Neville... can you imagine having Pansy for his ProTem."

Harry didn't think Pansy was actually bad, as her only crime was that until recently she was involved with Malfoy. There was that little incident with her teasing Hermione about being called " stunningly pretty" by Rita Skitter, but Harry thought she was most likely jealous of Hermione, being heralded as a beauty queen. 

Harry got the chance to join in Ron's laughter when Hermione asked if there was any homework. The three friends played exploding snaps in the common room until it was time for dinner. 

By dinner time that day the entire school knew about Harry's transformation. Everyone knew that Voldemort marked Harry for death a long time ago, but the transformation drove a point home to them. If Harry can change into a dragon then he was a very strong wizard and strong wizards had a way of dying when Voldemort finds out about them. 

Harry initially thought that the news of his ability would cause the female student population to become even more obsessed with him but he was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong. 

" Hermione why do think all the girls are avoiding me... not that I don't like the break from all the attention" said Harry as the trio moved toward their final class after dinner.

" Well, I talked to that Ravenclaw that was following you around yesterday, she said it's because they don't want to get attached to you..." she saw confusion in Harry's face so she tried to elaborate. " They think they'll go through the same think that Cho Chang went through last year" there was palpable sorrow in her voice. Regretting what she had said Hermione started to say " I'm sorry, I so- " But Harry interrupted her. 

" I never told you what really happened after I got transported. I'll tell you guys later when I'm upto it.... If I hadn't been so busy working over the summer I think I would be very depressed right now. Okay...enough mush." He turned to Ron and asked, " Where is the new Dueling class?"

" Right here" said a familiar obnoxious snobby voice that belonged to none other than Percy Weasley. He came out of the room and held out his hand to Harry, " Good day, Old Chap! I heard what you did... the dragon thing... I mean"

" How are you doing Percy?" Harry said shaking Percy's hand. " I heard about the promotion, so I think congratulations are in order."

" Well... what can I say? Hard work pay off sometimes" said Percy. Harry was sure he saw Percy blush a little. 

" Hey I saw the demonstration on Saturday. Excellent work, both of you. But Hermione..." he turned to her and said, " That was some 'Golden Flame'. I haven't seen that since I was a first year student here and that was nothing compared to what you did" Hermione blushed at the complement. 

" Though I was disappointed at how long it took you to realise Harry's strategy... Oh my! Did I use those two words in the same sentence? From what Ron always tells at home it was quite unlike what I saw" he, Hermione and Ron all started to laugh at Percy's joke about Harry.

" I know... I couldn't believe that he made me so angry that I wasted my energy attacking him" she replied to Percy before adding, " Before last summer I wouldn't have thought Harry was capable of doing anything like that either"

" Ha. Ha. Funny! Very Funny!" he said before going into the class ahead of his friends. 

(A/N: I know my Percy cracked a joke.... But someone had to. It was too good of an opportunity to miss it. Don't worry it was his last one...I hope. :)

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
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	23. CH 23: Hermione doesn't know the answer

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 23/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 23  
**Chapter Name:** Hermione doesn't know the answer

When the Dueling class was finished Harry was ready to collapse on the common room couch from drowsiness and that is exactly what he did. The class was mandatory otherwise he could have had skipped it, since he and Hermione already had those classes. 

" I'm beat" said Harry.

" Me too" Ron echoed the sentiment.

" Me three" said Hermione.

" That class was hard" said Ron " You two make it seem so easy"

" Don't worry... You'll get the hang of it" replied Hermione in her usual optimistic way.

" If you don't... I'm sure Hermione wouldn't mind having another person on close call to be beaten up when ever she wanted to" teased Harry. He saw Hermione start to go for her wand so he quickly said, " I have check on first years. I'll see ya all tomorrow." 

He headed out of the room towards the door, confident in the fact that Hermione would not do something behind his back. Fortunately for him Hermione had just changed her mind not to curse Harry even though his back was turned.

" Hey Harry, wait up. I'll join you" said Ron as he quickly caught upto Harry.

" Bye" said Hermione putting down her wand. 

The first year students were having a great time in their dorm room. Hermione had given similar advice to the girls, so when Snape asked his questions he was disappointed that the students didn't get them wrong. They had managed to get thirty points off the house for their effort. But the first years were determined not to let that get their way. 

When Harry entered the room he was treated like a friendly big brother rather than the celebrity. All of them were eager to tell Harry of the events of the day. Once all the important parts of the day were covered Harry noticed that it was almost time for their bedtime. " Time for bed" said Harry pointing at his watch. The boys went to their bed happy as clams and eager about what surprises were in store for them. Harry made his way back to the common room careful not to make too much noise.

When he saw Hermione sleeping on the chair by the fire he decided that it was too risky putting her in bed again and neither did he want to wake her up. So he went back to his room and grabbed his second blanket before wrapping it around her. Harry watched her sleep for a while before deciding to go to sleep.

It took him a while to get to sleep but once he did he was like a log. When he woke up at six thirty he looked at where Hermione was sleeping last night. She was still sleeping peacefully. Harry didn't want Ron to become jealous so he went to her and started to vigorously shake her.

" What is it?" she said still groggy from the sleep. She did notice Harry was surprisingly well composed for the time of the morning it was. She had a dreadful thought * Sweet Merlin! I must look like a Hag"

" Rise and shine your Royal Highness.... I mean Hermione." She really didn't want to wake up so she closed her eyes again. Harry knew it was time to use the big gun. 

" We have classes in about one and a half hours" Hermione's eyes snapped open and her face lit up like a Christmas tree at the prospect of a new day full of things to learn. Noticing her face go from annoyance to excitement because of the words that he had said Harry started to grin broadly. " I thought that might get your attention"

She sat up real quick and headed for the girls dorm. She stopped midway and said as she turned around, " Thanks for the blanket" before she left. 

It took them both half an hour to take a shower and get dressed. They waited for Ron for nearly fifteen minutes where Harry found out about her date with Victor. Apparently it was all that she had hoped for and was looking forward to their next one after the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. But all this talk about Victor stopped when Harry noticed Ron come down the stairs. " Hey Ron..." said Harry "... what took you so long?"

" Neville..." he said grumbling, "...that klutz managed to lock himself up in the public showers." Ron turned to Hermione and said, " So what were you talking about before I came in?"

" Oh...nothi..." Harry didn't get to finish his sentence when Hermione barged into the conversation.

" About Victor and my date with him on Sunday. It was really goo..."

Hermione started to walk towards the entrance but she didn't stop talking about Victor. Since she was walking a bit ahead of them she didn't see Harry holding Ron's mouth shut to stop him from saying something that he would later regret. The breakfast went very fast and it seemed that they had only touched their food when they had to start moving. 

The history of Magic was a class that no one could stay awake through. It was funny to see that a lot of students had brought their own pillows to sleep through it. Ron always had a spare shrunken pillow in his bag since the second class of that subject they ever had. Hermione however preferred to either work on memorising that years text book or just glance through the latest copy of "Hogwarts: A history". 

The class began like the other two classes had began. Professor Binns went through their homework assignments. Harry and Hermione's papers were good enough that Professor Binns gave them thirty points each. Ron's paper wasn't that good but he earned five points for effort. When Professor Binns told them of their study topic for that year Harry's heart jumped.

" Shozar Wars and events leading up to and consequences of the war" 

Harry's throat went dry and for a long time he didn't breathe. Harry took comfort in the fact that everyone would sleep through the classes anyway but he knew Hermione would not and she was the person who was most likely to put the clues together.

* If don't tell her then...* his thought was interrupted as the consequences of Hermione finding out and telling someone intentionally or unintentionally flashed through his mind. * Thousands dead and millions more affected... No I'll tell her. She'll know why she has to keep secret what she has to* 

He decided to tell her about all that he dared to Hermione when Ron was busy doing his practice for Quidditch Trials. 

****** IMPORTANT ******

DO NOT use the following to think Ron and Hermione were meant for each other... writing this part almost made me sick) I had to read 12 h/h fluff to become normal again. 

I KNOW I'M WEIRD...BUT REMEMBER YOU READ ALL THAT BECAUSE I'M WIERD.

***********************

Hermione sitting next to Ron was thinking not about the homework she had been, nor was her mind stuck on the topic they were going to study that year. She was still on the 'Victor love train' conversation that she had with Harry and Ron in the morning. 

* Hard to believe I turned down Victor three time before saying yes* mused

Hermione as a glazed expression washed over her face. 

Hermione had originally wished that her crush, Ron would ask her to the Yule

Ball. But when Ron asked Fleur Delacour to the dance she said, yes to Victor

Krum, the world famous Quidditch player. Her crush started when they met. She sat next to Ron to pretend that she was interested in Harry. Normally she would stay away from people who were popular or well known before that. 

That's also the reason she was deeply upset by the comment Ron had made on the morning of Halloween. She still had the crush on Ron and she knew full well what effect mentioning Krum had on Ron. Though they felt the same way she had decided at the time of the Yule ball that Ron had to admit his feelings for her before she would even consider dating him and Ron would only have his chance when Victor did something wrong. 

Victor was kind and very nice to Hermione, and he was the first person to notice her as a girl, something she remembered. Tired of being one of the girls, she was happy to finally get noticed. 

She had been quite surprised to see how hard Harry worked, to stop Ron from saying things to Hermione that might effect whether or not Ron and Hermione would ever become boyfriend and girlfriend.

* I can't believe how Harry's been doing all these sweet things for me and

Ron...* though Hermione. * Why doesn't anyone see how wonderful he is? Maybe I should find him someone... Yes! That's what I'll do. Let's see now... Ginny is a good choice...er.. no. Wrong approach. I need to find someone who thinks Harry is deserving of love more than what I think who he should go out with...*

******** READ THIS *********

(A/N: it's not a story of ' trying to search for his perfect match and finding out its really her ' kind of story. there will be a lot of obstacle for h/h to conquer before they get together if that happens in this book)

***************************

Hermione was so engross in her thought's she didn't even hear the question that

Professor Binns had asked her. " Excuse me... but what was the question?"

Harry's head twirled around as soon as he had heard Hermione say that. Fortunately for her he was the only person besides Hermione awake (that was exaggerating it. He was half way between sleep and awake) at that time so her reputation as being a good student and always paying attention in class was still intact. 

* Did she just say what I think she just said?* thought Harry incredulously.

Professor Binns was also surprised at this question but he repeated the question none the less, " Name the person who was instrumental in capturing Shozar Sebastian?" in his drawling voice.

" I don't know," said Hermione, who was irritated at that moment as she was interrupted from making up a list of students that she though might be interested in Harry.

Professor Binns was stunned but he turned his head toward Harry who absentmindedly answered, " Harold Parker"

(A/N: This guy's initial is the same as Harry's. I wonder if there is a

connection ;)........... that'll give you guys some ideas. Read "Winking at Potter" chapter to get some more clues. There's also a clue in the chapter when Professor Dippet and Mr. Pasha are talking to each other.)

It's ironic really that all those Ravenclaws who hated Hermione for getting top marks slept right through the day she actually didn't answer a question. The reason might have been she was thinking about Harry's love life and didn't want to be interrupted but who is to say that Hermione would have had known the answer. .... Well you all know that's not true. She always knows the answer. But did she this time?

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	24. CH 24: Painful encounter of the Veela ki...

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 24/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 24  
**Chapter Name:** Painful encounter of the Veela kind

When the class finally finished Harry looked at the concentration on Hermione's face and realised it was because of the fact that she had been concentrating on something else in class that she did not answer questions in class. For a moment he thought that she had realised something that Harry had been dreading to tell her, but his fears were proved to be unfounded when he tentatively asked her why she hadn't been paying attention in class. Her reply sounded totally plausible.

" Just thinking about Victor..." she added a sigh at the end to make Ron jealous. * So easy to set him off* thought Hermione.

A relieved Harry barely managed to hold on to Ron's mouth. Hermione smiled as she caught the struggle between Ron and Harry from the corner of her eyes. The trio with the Gryffindors had just joined the line outside the door when they saw someone running frantically in their direction.

She had run all the way from her previous class to make it there before rest of her house got there. As the panting Pansy joined the girls she stood exactly opposite of Harry on the line for the boys. Standing right next to Pansy, Harry could hardly ignore the fact that she kept eyeing Neville every few seconds. Pansy turned a deep scarlet colour, before turning away from Harry when she saw that he had seen her look at Neville.

* Damn! I'm going to miss this interesting new development when I'm in transfiguration with Professor Dumbledore* thought Harry just as he saw the door open.

The bright room behind the person who came out of the room made the person appear to Harry who was at the back of line, as a silhouette. As the person walked further out of the room the more details of the face and body became clear. Pearly white skin and beautiful blonde hair was one of her best features.

It was Fleur Delacour. One of the TriWizard champions that Harry had bet the year before.

She walked out into the corridor in a nice red cloak, the back of which was trailing behind her as she almost floated down the corridor inspect both lines of boys and girls. The all too familiar signs of loathing, hatred toward her from the girls and the unmistakable signs of lust in the hormonal teenagers' eyes... not to mention rest of their bodies. The sweat on their faces, the quivering of their lips... it all made her a bit sick.

The boys were using the camera in their mind to capture a million snapshot of her as she walked slowly down the corridor. There was no doubt in her mind that the boys would later use those pictures to fuel their imagination when they had more privacy. All her life most men had lusted after her, so one can hardly blame her for having a very low opinion of the whole male species.

She froze in mid step when her eyes caught those of the third boy from the end of the line. There was no sign of lust toward her from this boy. He had raven black unruly hair and a set of very bright green hair behind his square glasses. 

(A/N: Tell me it surprises to you...)

* Oh Mon Dieu! Ça ne peut pas être...la cicatrice...C'est! C'est lui!*, thought Fleur.

(A/N: It's French... Originally I used an online translator to do this. But I received several correct ones, I'm using the one that came to me first. Jessica, who is a student at some French school, did the version up at the top. If you really want to know what she said, it's here, "Oh My God! It cannot be... the scar... It is! It is him!")

" 'Arry?" she asked as she took one step back just to make sure that this was who she thought he was. The lightning shaped scar barely visible because of his will hair was the clue that made sure that she was right in her assumption.

Veela women were extremely hard to resist and only those with extreme mental focus could do so. Though part Veela women are not as hard to resist as full-blooded Veela women it would takes an enormous amount of strength of character to resist them. That is why Fleur was surprised to see Harry not been affected by this. 

Fleur attributed the no lust towards her as how strong Harry had become since he took on a Nundu but that was not the real case. Harry knew he had no chance in hell of attracting this woman and lusting after her was a waste. He had a better chance going after Hermione than Fleur, even though Hermione was currently involved with Victor Krum, world famous Quidditch player. He had ample time to think of such things in Morocco and had decided that if love finds him it was good but he would not seek it out from somewhere there was no chance in getting it.

Harry smiled at her and said, " At your service, Madam" with a small bow.

Fleur examined Harry more closely when he finished his bow. Harry was not the same person physically as he was a few months ago when she had last seen him. Harry had changed from the scrawny little boy she had seen months ago to a rather tall and very decently muscled boy. Nature had been kind enough to give him an early growth spurt (even for wizards), making him appear almost a fully-grown man. Being a head taller than most girls and almost all the boys gave him the appearance of a giant in amongst the other students.

She rushed forward and hugged Harry tightly before kissing him on the cheeks a bit more than necessary... specially considering she was a teacher. 

(Fleur is only three years older. I wonder if there's -no I think I'll leave you to think about it. ;) A/N)

All the boys in class and none more so than Ron, were glaring daggers at Harry who had turned pink at the excessive hugging and kissing. The girls in the class were a different matter altogether. They didn't know if they should be happy that for the moment rest of the boys weren't lusting after Fleur or to be furious with Fleur for the excessive amount of affection that she was showing Harry.

Harry knew why Fleur had reacted like this. Last year during the second task of the TriWizard tournament Harry had risked his life and a chance at outright victory to save her little sister, though it was a mistake on both his and her part in assuming that her sister was in any real danger.

" It's good to see you too" said Harry as he vigorously rubbed his cheeks to get rid of the bright shade of red lipstick she was using, before saying, " How is your sister?"

" She's okay... She is in schul thish 'ear. Talks about Oou all the time" She looked him up and down once and said, " Oou 'ave changed. Not skinny, short and lanky boy no more" There was a pause as she said " Oou look 'andsome"

As soon as she had said those words, Harry almost wished she hadn't. Being a part Veela woman she had seen a ton of men follow her like puppies, so a complement from her was a big deal, but it also meant that the dagger eyes from the rest of the boys in the class were getting to critical level. After that point they would simply want to kill him.

" Thanks" was all Harry could say as his face flushed once more.

* I better use a shielding charm before going to sleep...* thought Harry as he saw Fleur move away from him and open the door to the class.

Ron like all the other hormonal boys had scrambled for the seats at the front of the room once Fleur had opened the door to let the students in. This left only Harry and the girls to take a seat that weren't occupied by the drooling boys. Though Harry and Hermione walked next to each other as the entered the room, he noticed that Hermione was rather cold to him and didn't talk, but he dismissed the thought as they stated to talk after taking their seat behind Ron.

Fleur went to the front of the room and started to search for something on the desk. Frustrated with the search she yelled " Tidus" with her wand pointed at the desk.

A bright beam hit the table and it's contents. Everything started to sort by itself magically. The scrolls arranged themselves to reveal what she was looking for. It was small red bag no bigger than the length of Harry's palm.

" When I give frog to Oou..." she did a gesture to suggest that they gad to eat it. "...Oou eat."

The frog was actually a chocolate frog. Harry was a bit confused as to why she gave the chocolates to only boys. When it was Harry's turn she didn't give him any. The rest of the boys were enjoying the chocolate frogs, but not as much as the fact that they all got something and Harry didn't.

Once all the boys had finished eating their chocolate Fleur started to talk.

" Zee reason for giving zee 'chocolat frog' was to get rid of some of zee attraction Oou all seem to huv towards me."

" Of course!" said Hermione, not believing that she had missed the obvious clue.

Harry was still uncertain as to why Fleur had given everyone a chocolate frog other than him. So he asked Hermione why he didn't get one. "Er...Hermione..."

" What?" Hermione was still mentally punishing herself for missing the clue so her voice had an edge to it that she was unable to get rid of.

"...er. Why didn't she give me one?..." he blushed and then said, " I mean... does she want me to be attracted to her..."

Hermione couldn't believe what Harry had just said. * He has absolutely no clue...* thought Hermione fondly. " No!... You're a moron if you think that" Hermione was surprised by how intense her response had been. 

Harry looked hurt at what Hermione had said, 

" I mean... No. You weren't drooling at her like Malfoy or Ron...." she paused and reformed what she wanted to say. " You were the only boy in the class who wasn't looking at her like they wanted to have their way with her right there." Hermione blushed, as that wasn't exactly the sentence that she had wanted to say.

" OH!" Harry thought for a second and then asked not certain if that was a good thing or not. " Is that a good thing?"

" Honestly Harry!" she said making a face at him, "Yes."

" Ok." Harry's face burst into a big smile. Hermione couldn't help but imitated it soon after.

A few seconds after Fleur's sentence finished, all the boys looked positively sick. When they looked up to ask for help, they saw her point to the far right side of the room. All the boys ran to the sinks that lined the wall of the right side of the class. They waited for something to happen. 

What happened next, Harry would remember for the rest of his life. Malfoy, Ron, Neville and Seamus all threw up simultaneously, while the rest waited until the vomit fairy paid them a visit. * So that's why they were there * thought Harry who had noticed the sinks when he had entered the room but didn't understand what it's use was. * Glad...I'm not lusting after her thought Harry.*

" Hey Hermione..." he turned to look at her, " ...are those guys gonna go through this every time we have Defence against Dark Arts?" he asked.

The thought was terrible. Throwing up three times a week.... it was almost enough to make Harry want to go and join the boys in emptying his own stomach.

Hermione was smiling when she saw Ron thrown up.

* That's what you get when you go after a Veela woman... I couldn't have had given a lecture that would even come close to this- * Hermione's thoughts were interrupted by Harry's question.

" No- Well for about the next month or so, but it'll stop after they learn to control their hormones a little better" Harry was quite surprised to see the evil happiness in Hermione when she said this.

She looked like she was indeed enjoying this more than she really should. Aside from this nothing of importance happened in the class. They learned about Dragons and some of the famous Dragon Slayers...well names of wizard groups that took care of the dragon pest problems in the medieval times.

They were told to read up about a creature called " Blissy", as it was their midyear exam topic. The whole thing would be about that creature and how to handle it. They had to do a detailed research without any help from the teacher and prepare themselves for an encounter with the creature. There would not be any help given out for that topic. Harry made a mental note to do some research on the topic to get himself started.

The Charms class was the next after launch but before that the trio had lunch. Fred and George Weasley who were two years ahead of Harry and his two friends had had that class the day before and as such knew what was in store for the boys. Ron took only a few seconds to get angry with his two brothers, because they neglected to mention what to expect. But they were much more interested in Harry's experience in the class.

" So Harry... Did you enjoys throwing up?" asked Fred and George with smug faces when the trio sat down on the table.

" I...I..." Harry wasn't sure what to say and as if on cue Hermione spoke up.

" He didn't throw up... actually he was the only boy in class that didn't drool at the mare sight of Fleur, if you must know." She said patting Harry on the back much to Harry's embarrassment.

The answer was not what the twins were hoping for and their jaw dropped in obvious disbelief. The answer was intended for Fred and George but the rest of the table heard her too. Most of the girls looked like they had seen Harry for the first time in their life. Harry could see his normalcy flying away from him after that comment. He prepared himself for another day like the Saturday and hoped like hell for a day like Monday to come around.. soon. Harry decided that he would fake one of his nightmares to stop the girls from taking too much of a notice of him.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
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	25. CH 25: Earlymorning Fun

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 25/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 25  
**Chapter Name:** Early-morning Fun

Harry might have had thought that he needed to fake a nightmare, fortunately for him he didn't. At dinnertime it became clear (I'm not telling how...) that the girls were still scared to get involved with him, since the dragon transformation incident. This was a delight that he intended to savour for a long time to come.

The next day began early... even for him. He woke up at five thirty in the morning, which was rather early compared to his usual habit of waking up at about six thirty. Since he had a whole hour to waste Harry headed to his room to get his Firebolt, the fastest broomstick that he knew to exist.

When Harry opened the gate to the Quidditch field he took in a deep breath of fresh air. The air was always more crispy in the morning and it made his nose tickle. Once on the field he knelt down on the field and ripped off a bit of grass. As he was standing up straight he let the grass fall from his hand to determine, which way the wind was blowing. He went to the shed with the Quidditch supplies and took out the practise snitch. It was slightly bigger than the real thing, hence it was slower but that didn't make it any easier to catch it.

By the time he reached the field again the sun was making headway into the sky. Harry used a spell to force the snitch on to the ground. He mounted his broom and yelled, " Finite Incantem", which broke the spell holding the practise snitch end. The snitch whizzed past Harry at in incredible rate. His blood started to fill with adrenaline from the thrill of the search as he felt the first sign when the tip of his tongue became bitter for a split second.

Harry hadn't been the only one who woke up early that morning. Alicia Spinnet the head-girl also woke up from a bad dream involving a circus and a family of puddles. Whenever she woke up this early in the morning she always liked to watch the sun rise over the Quidditch field. 

(A/N: Remember the solitary shadow that saw Harry put Hermione back into her room...tada)

Though she suspected it was already up a fair way she decided that it was worth looking at.

Small amounts of sunlight filtered through the multicoloured window, when she moved the curtains to one side. It took a second for her to get accustomed to the bright light. But she could see a solitary figure on the Quidditch field even before her eyes got there focus back.

* Who is that? * she thought as she saw person too faraway to judge his/her gender.

She saw the person get on the broom and then release the silvery snitch. The person was very quick at retrieving it and she assumed it was Harry since he was the fastest snitch catcher on the field.

* This is a bit voyeuristic... isn't it? * asked a faint voice in her mind. 

* Not really... I'm the captain of the team and I'm just seeing how he's practising. *

* Is that so?... then tell me this, Why do you always blush when he looks at you? *

* Be... Because.... * the logical part of the brain failed to find any reason. Talk about ironic.

* You don't know the answer or is it that the answer scares you? * asked the faint voice was becoming more clear and resonant all the time.

* If you're so smart then tell me why? *

* Remember you asked... You like him. * there was a hint of mischief in that voice.

* Of course I like him. He's not malicious to me is he?* said the logical part then tried to elaborate, * He's polite, gentle, caring and handsome... oops *

The logical part of her brain wanted to withdraw that last adjective, more than anything else in the world.

* You said handsome... not 'cute' like you usually say about him... could it be that you like him more than you let on?...* the voice was now more confident then ever before.

* I don't... and...and even if I did it would never work... I'm three years older than him. *

* Is that so Ms. If-I-was-a-day-younger-I-would-be-in-sixth-year.... if you aren't interested then why do you keep talking to me... You want me to give you reasons to go out with him... well I'll give you some. Like you said, he's polite, gentle, caring and last but not least he's handsome. There's one that I'll add just to sweeten the pot... he's tall. Even if he's younger than you he certainly is taller so it's not going to be embarrassing for you two go out in public... but I highly doubt that would be a reason you wouldn't want to go out with him *

* But I'm leaving at the end of the year... * protested the logical part of the brain.

* so..*

* so we can't continue the relationship after Hogwarts... *

* what makes you so certain that you'll want to or even that it would last that long? How many year long relationships have you had so far?"

* None... * replied the logical part with disappointment dripping form it.

* As for continuation of the relationship... if this is love... true love then it wouldn't be a problem... even if it isn't, you'll have a good friend. *

* So you think I should... *

* Ask your heart... wait... that's me. YES OF COURSE * shouted the voice.

* What do I do? I mean I haven't tried dating since George in fifth year... I'll be rusty *

* Atleast you have... He hasn't had any, so you're in good company... I'll give you one final advice... take it slow. He's been through an awful lot lately. Become good friends first... then if you want to be more than that tell him. If you do it this way... you'll get to know the real him.*

* Thanks... I'll see what I can do. *

Once the conversation with her heart or is it the less logical part of her brain was finished she rushed through the morning rituals and headed to the Quidditch field with her very own Nimbus Two Thousand and one in her left hand. She ran all the way to the field, coming to full stop a few metres from the field.

Harry was too deep in his search for the snitch to realise that someone was watching from the sidelines. He came to a full stop right in front of her when she caught the snitch that he was going for.

" Nice catch" he complemented her.

" It really was nothing..." said Alicia as she handed Harry the snitch that had quite by chance had appeared right in front of her nose. " Can I play with you..." she blushed, " I mean room for one more"

* She blushes an awful lot * thought Harry as he nodded a yes.

" Okay... but we need to decide on rules" said Harry.

" Well then... what are the rules?"

" We both search for the snitch. Who ever catches it most out of ten releases wins..."

" That's hardly fair... I'm not a seeker"

" Well that's why I'm giving you 2 capture handicap"

" Only two... let me use your broom and I'll take one capture handicap... how about that" asked Alicia, fairly certain Harry would not give his broom.

" Ok" said Harry rather reluctantly, "... just don't crash it"

" Wow.. I really didn't expect you to agree, but...." she snatched Harry's broom as she dropped hers from her hand and took off into the air. " ...since you did,

I'm gonna make you regret it."

" We'll see" Harry took off after her on her Nimbus 2001.

Her Nimbus 2001 though slower, it was a lot easier to handle since the broom didn't twist and turn at the slightest movement of her grip. She also wasn't required to react so fast all the time. She understood where the phrase 'seeker reflex' came from as well as how Harry had reacted so fast when she collided with him. 

Several time during their search for the snitch she was really impressed how fast Harry seemed to move on her Nimbus 2001 and stop dead when it looked as though they might collide. * He's really a born flyer isn't he... No wonder he's got dragon animagus ability * though Alicia in total amazement.

She had only started to notice Harry the year before when he went to the Yule ball. She remembered how uncomfortable he looked being moved on the dance floor like a show dog. She wanted to go and have a dance with him but by the time George Weasley had let go of her he had gone off to somewhere.

" Hey...what's the score?" asked Alicia when she saw Harry catch the snitch. The game went on...

Even with one handicap and the faster broom Alicia still lost. There were two reasons for this. Number one Harry was the seeker for the Gryffindor house and as such used to looking for the snitch, whereas she was the chaser a position that emphasis more on passing and intercepting. The second reason was that Alicia had never handled a Firebolt before and her trusty and quite frankly looked for the first few minutes to be a first year broom student.

On the way back from the Quidditch field Alicia apologise to Harry for her behaviour the morning before. Harry told her that she didn't need to since she was defending the honour of the house with the knowledge that she had. When the entered the common room there was only two people waiting for them there. 

Ron and Hermione.

" Where the hell have you beeeeeennn?" the last part of the question got elongated when he saw his companion was none other than the head-girl. They were both covered in mud and Harry had a small cut on his elbow that had a small amount of blood leaking from it.

" Playing Quidditch" answered Harry cheerily to a shocked Ron's face.

" With her..." asked Ron pointing at the head-girl.

(A/N: Sometimes I show what a character is thinking. I wanted to do that for Ron but all things I thought of made him seem worse that my portrayal of him is supposed be. He's not supposed to be bad... yet.)

" Yes" answered Alicia, " ... we have been playing catch the snitch... maybe next time you two would like to join us" there was genuine friendliness in her voice. Hermione quickly dismissed the idea though.

" Thanks, but no thanks" she said, as she tied her hair in a ponytail. " Brooms have a tendency to run away from me and I really don't care for Quidditch much anyway- " then she pointed at Ron and said, " -feel free to take him with you when ever you like"

Ron turned red at this comment, though Alicia saw no reason for him to do so she politely smiled at him. She quickly left after that saying she had to get ready for her class and headed for the showers. Harry did the same as well and when he came downstairs he found out that Alicia had left for her first class a few minutes before.

The trio agreed that they didn't have enough time for breakfast and so they went to their first class of the day. Potions with Professor Snape, but when they entered the class five minutes late, something unlike all the other times they had entered late happened....

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	26. CH 26: Class, Meet Snuffles beta edited

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 26/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 26  
**Chapter Name:** " Class, Meet Cuddles"

Parvati Patil was the first person to reach the Potions class that morning. She muttered angrily at herself for coming into the room so early and alone. * You just had to wake up so early... didn't you? * she thought to herself as she took her seat next to where Lavender was supposed to sit.

* Well at least the Slytherins aren't here yet. *

It seemed fate didn't like Parvati that day. No sooner had she thought that, all the Slytherin boys walked into the room with Malfoy in the lead. They took their usual seats at the front of the class. No words were exchanged between Parvati and the Slytherins, nor were any said between the Slytherins themselves. Malfoy quickly became bored with the situation and decided to terrorise the only Gryffindor present. 

His job was made even easier by the simple fact that Parvati was one of the docile types. She had the habit of exploding occasionally, but that rarely happened and Parvati had a feeling that this morning was not going to be one of them. Malfoy intentionally took a long time to get up from his seat. He made sure that Parvati could not miss the malicious expression on his face. 

Parvati shifted on her seat and wished like hell someone else from the Gryffindor house would come in. When Malfoy was finally off the seat he slowly made his way towards her at the back of the room. His wand waving in the air menacingly.

"Petrificus Totalus" said Dean Thomas and three other Gryffindors in unison as they entered the room pointing their wands in Malfoy's direction. It took them a split second to determine that Malfoy wanted to intimidate poor Parvati. Malfoy felt his arms stick to his sides and his legs get stuck together, just before he fell to the floor with a loud thud. Dean and the other three Gryffindors made a point of stepping on Malfoy as they quickly went to where Parvati was sitting.

" You Ok?" asked Dean, careful to keep an eye on Malfoy's little gang.

" Yes. Thank you." Her voice radiated relief.

" Don't worry about it..." he turned his full attention to the Slytherins now.

Crabbe and Goyle looked as though they might start a fight with the five Gryffindors present, but stopped when they saw Professor Snape walk in the room.

Malfoy had managed to get free of the spell fairly quickly, considering three of the student had combined their magic to do it. (A/N: Is he very strong in Magic? -you'll see later in the book) Since the teacher was in the class he decided to launch a formal complaint, in the hopes that Professor Snape would take points off the Gryffindor house and hand out detention. " Sir…" he said in a wounded voice. 

Professor Snape's entrance was missed by all those present, as they had all been paying attention to what was happening between Malfoy and the Gryffindors.

He did not make his trademark 'Tap' noises every six steps, since he had totally forgotten to wear his normal footwear in the morning. Had it been one of the students, he would have had taken points off them, for it was dangerous for students to work with dangerous potions without protection. He didn't even take his deep breath of Gryffindor fear in the air.

Most importantly he did not scratch his buttocks once, as his hands were busier holding a piece of equipment that was in his hand. He sat down quietly on his desk and stared at the mortar and pestle set that Harry had given him.

The mortar and pestle set was the only one of its kind in the world and he knew that just by owning it he had become the envy of potion masters all over the world.

* Just wait till they see me at the next Potions convention... I'll finally get the upper hand on that ...* even though he was just thinking he could not help shuddering at the though of the name this person, * Professor Snooty from Cartova Mountain Academy... I'm going to really rub my face into him..."

Professor Snooty was the person that Professor Snape hated almost as much as Lord Voldemort. In reality his hatred was equal to that of James Potter and his marauders, and Harry and his reckless behaviour combined.

He was his main rival in potions when they studied together at Hogwarts. Though Professor Snape did not particularly like the subject that he taught, he always tried to make himself known as the best. For years Professor Snooty had beaten Snape at showing off their prized possession to the conference. He was enjoying his daydream so much, that he actually blew up on a Slytherin. 

At that point, he really didn't care, on whom he blew up. The only things he could remember correctly were "I hate Snooty"; " I Hate Potters" and " I need some owl droppings for my wart removal potion".

" What in the blazes do you want?"

" Th..the.. Gryffindors attacked me without provocat-" Malfoy was interrupted by Professor Snape.

Professor thought for a split second and decided that he'll take some points off. This way he didn't really have to fill up any paper work. 

" Five points of Gryffindors..." he said, choosing the least amount he could take off with out filing any paperwork. He did not care whether or not Malfoy was killed at that point all he cared for was going back to his daydream about how he was going to rub Professor Snooty's nose into the work. 

" ...Go to your seat Draco and stay there".

Then an angry Professor Snape turned to the class and said, " Next person to make a peep gets a month of detention in the Forbidden Forest" before going back to looking at the mortar and pestle set with a glazed expression on his face. He was not sure if he would follow through with the punishment, but he knew just the threat was good enough to keep the class well controlled.

For the rest of class Professor Snape was very nice to Gryffindors, not intentionally of course. He didn't notice when Harry and his two friends showed up to class well over five minutes late. Malfoy didn't dare point it out to Professor Snape, as he was scared of how differently Professor Snape was acting.

Snape also did not really take the class; rather he let the students do what ever they wanted as long as they were quite. He never stopped staring at the mortar and pestle set to actually teach anything that day. The Gryffindors were simply happy to do nothing in class except for Hermione.

Her academic mind reeled at the thought of a whole period being wasted because the teacher was not actually teaching anything in class. She had to be restrained by Harry and Ron all throughout the potions class, so that she did not ask Professor Snape what was going on. When the class finished she was really upset by the situation.

" If you two ever do anything like that again... I swear in the name of the Merlin and his library of Magical books that I'll kill you both. Do you realise what just happened?" she asked, looking back and forth between Harry and Ron.

They were a bit tired from holding Hermione down on the floor. " Well do you?" the pitch of her voice getting dangerously higher, "... He was staring at that..." she actually did not know what it was that Snape was staring at she did not see it, "...that thing"

" A Mortar and Pestle set to be exact, and a very expensive one." said Harry. " I should know, I gave it to him." said Harry as the moved down the corridor to where the Care of Magical Creatures class would be held.

" Is it enchanted to make Snape forget about class?" asked Neville, who had just caught up to the terrific trio and sounded very hopeful that, for the rest of the year, he would not have to make a fool of himself in front of Professor Snape.

Surprisingly enough Hermione though that Harry had done the same thing. She walked a few steps ahead of Harry and spread her arms, effectively blocking the narrow corridor to Harry. " Is that why you gave it to him?" asked Hermione.

Harry was taken aback by the fact that, Hermione thought that Harry was capable of doing something like that. * Well I have to admit it is a reasonable assumption...* thought Harry, as he tried to dodge Hermione. Seeing that she was determined to get an answer, he answered.

" As hard as it may seem, I didn't even think about it. Now that you mention it, maybe I should have done it." Harry paused a little to see Hermione's eyes flare up. When he thought she was going to start to scold him again, he started to speak, " The Mortar & Pestle set is very expensive and it's what all potion masters hope to have. The maker of that particular one was very famous all over the world. That's the only one of his work that survived the Shozar Wars", he stopped and tried to dodge her again. She was very persistent and it was one her qualities that Harry found very fitting. There was no hope of him actually getting past her without attacking her, so he decided to cave in for a while. 

" I gave it him because he was a good friend to my mom, even though he was in Slytherin. You happy, now?"

" Very..." said Hermione.

" Well good. Now can we get to Hagrid's class?" asked Harry.

For the first time in history of Hogwarts, the Gryffindors wanted to stay in the potions class rather than go to Care of Magical Creatures. They all knew of the eccentricities of Hagrid and they knew chances were he had something that was bigger, faster, had more teeth and was more dangerous than ever before, just waiting for them in class.

" Maybe he won't have anything dangerous this year," said Neville, trying to convince himself rather that anyone else in particular.

" Chances of that happening and Snape giving you points in class are the same.", Commented Ron.

Indeed this was the case as halfway across the school Hagrid got his arm bitten by a small winged creature as he tried to put it inside it's enclosure. The Gryffindors weren't really surprised to see Hagrid show up for the class with bandages to his right arm. They would have been more scared if he hadn't. Hagrid looked like he always did, Big and gentle. It's just a shame that Hagrid never brought around any nice and easy to love creatures.

Hagrid scanned through the class for his favourite pupil, a scrawny little boy with round glasses. Lately all the girls in his classes were always talking about him. Since Harry hadn't come and seen him in the first few days of first week, he hadn't had a chance to see him for a while. When he finally saw him he let out a gasp.

Hagrid appeared happy when he recognised Harry, but his happiness was replace with something that Harry could not identify. It was almost as if Hagrid was seeing something else around Harry. Harry watched as Hagrid looked between him, Hermione and Malfoy. He gave a small smile to Harry and asked, " Is that 'ye Harry?"

" In the flesh!" he said as he gave the friendly half giant a hug. " How was your summer?" he asked when he separated from Hagrid.

Harry had answered yes to Hagrid's question, and it looked as though he was happy, but when he asked about his holidays Hagrid looked genuinely distressed. Harry wondered what had happened in the summer to make Hagrid act in such a way. He had assumed that him and Madame Maxime were sent as envoys to the giants, to ask them join the side of light. 

" It was ok... I'll talk ter 'ye later" answered Hagrid obviously not wanting to elaborate any further than he had to in front of the large number of waiting students. Hagrid then rushed off to get something. Ron looked at the rapidly escaping Hagrid and asked, " Where's he going off to?"

" I don't know, but I think he wants us to talk to him after the class is finished."

" But we'll miss lunch." complained Ron, but a look that reminded Harry of how Hermione's mother controlled her husband made him stop.

When Hagrid was back he had with him, on a trolley, a large cage. Some sort of cloth hid the contents of the cage. The creature inside it didn't sound too happy... Well how can a wild beast be happy to be trapped?

" Good Monin to 'ye all"

There was a mumbled reply to the greeting. The cage was shaking and the hissing and growling noises from cage just kept increasing. The whole class took on collective step backwards. Hagrid didn't seem to notice the fear in their eyes.

" Some err 'ye know I huv been outer England in the summer" 

None of students were informed of this actually, nor did they ever actually wonder what he did over the summer.

" Been doing a bit of critter collecting." He then took one step to the cage and with one yank he took off the cloth covering the cage.

"Class..." his voice filled with excitement, " Meet Cuddles" he said pointing at the blue and silvery creature in the cage. The whole class took one more step back, while Hermione stood where she was. She was busily trying to remember what creature it was as she scratched her head to get inspiration. She would have had stayed there if Harry and Ron hadn't dragged her back with them once they realised that she hadn't taken a step backwards.

The serpentine creature had scales that reflected a diffused version of sunlight, giving it a surreal appearance. It had wings, each the same length as the as its body (head to tail). The creature didn't have a claw or grabbing mechanism, but on the end of the wings there was something that resembled three fingers. The tail looked to be strong enough to grab hold of something.

" A Veloron" shouted Hermione, at the top of her voice, once she had figured out what the creature was.

" Good job, Hermione... but could 'ya wait til I ask 'yer a question?" said Hagrid. 

Hermione seem to take to complement even though there was a hidden reprimand for her, since she had interrupted what he was about to say. " As Hermione said, its a Veloron. These lil critters are found in the deserts of India. Don't worry 'ye don't have ter deal with this one." When he said that the class took a collective sigh or relief.

Neville went to the ground on his knees and clasped his hands before starting to say, " Thank you. Thank you. Thank you" but he had acted a bit too soon, as neither Hagrid nor the Veloron was done with surprises.

" Nice to see 'yer enthusiasm" said Hagrid, " This is a pregnant mother. In the next few weeks it'll give birth to about fifty little critters and once that happens 'ye all get ter take care of one of 'em"

Before the class could finish their collective groan of displeasure, the Veloron opened its mouth and fired a ball flame towards the students. They had all seen the creature open its mouth, but they hadn't expected anything to come out of it, let alone a large ball of fire. Hagrid quickly put the cloth back on the cage to prevent any future fireballs. Hermione knew this was bound to happen and she was well prepared for this. She pointed he wand at the ball of flame and yelled, " Iglus", causing the ball of flame to turn into solid ice and shatter on the ground on impact, several inches from Neville's kneeling body. This was too much to handle for Neville who promptly fainted.

Most people when they say the fireball backed away from the scene. Malfoy could have had set the world record on how fast he had ran from where he was standing to a nearby tree. Amidst all this four people made their way to where Neville's body was.

Pansy happened to be the person standing behind Neville when this happened, and was the first one to see if he was all right. She knelt down beside him and poked his unconscious body with her wand. Ron, ever the gentleperson that he was, nudged Neville's body with the tip of his shoes to see if he was still alive. The other person trying to revive him was Dean Thomas.

Hermione was still examining the shattered fireball. " Pansy, Dean and Ron". Hagrid yelled from the front of the class, where he had just put the cover on cage, " -take Neville back to the hospital wing. You guys can stay with him if you want."

After the events with the Veloron, the students weren't sure if they wanted to go to that class anymore. If it hadn't been for Hermione's quick action, Neville would have been in a serious condition. There was a round of applause for her when she looked up from the shattered remains of the fireball. Hagrid wasn't really concerned about the fireball.

" Class, let me assure 'ye the fire ball is only dangerous if 'ye are within two meters of the beast.... after that there's not 'nuff for a cup of tea and 'ye are all five meters away."

When Hermione nodded her head in agreement from behind Hagrid, the class relaxed a little, though not much. Harry really wasn't worried about the fireball like Hermione had been. He knew Hagrid was capable of bringing something into the class that could severely injure, scar or even burn a person, but not something that could kill one of the students by accident. 

Hagrid told Zabini, one of the Slytherins girls, to go and grab Malfoy from behind the tree, while he worked on trying to settle the class after the fireball incident. By the time they had done so both Ron and Malfoy were back.

" Hey Harry" said Ron as he took a seat next to Hermione.

" How's he doing?" he asked.

" Fine... You're not going to believe this but Pansy started to cry, saying it was her fault. She thinks she should have pushed him out of the way." said Ron, before he started to laugh. 

He did, however, manage to choke out " -she's even staying behind with Dean." Ron did not get to finish he sentence as Hagrid started to cough in his usual thundering way to get attention of the class.

" Like I told 'ye, these critters…" said Hagrid. Ron and rest of the class worked hard to keep up with what Hagrid was saying about the creature, while Hermione wrote down whatever she already did not know. That turned out to be only six lines and two of them were about Victor coming to see her in a few weeks time. 

Harry on the other hand was listening to what Hagrid was saying and then copied down what was either not common sense or not unusual about the creature. By the time class had finished, Harry had written about a scroll full of notes, while the rest of the class had done several.

As the rest of the class made their way to the great hall, the trio moved towards Hagrid's hut. Hagrid's hut had not changed much except for the fact that he had added some pictures on the wall. French muggle painters did most of them. When Harry noticed the pictures he thought it was best that he did not say anything about them.

* Hagrid's taken a real shine to Madame Maxime * though Harry as he took his seat. Harry did not know why but his sense told him that their privacy was not assured at that moment. * Almost as if someone is listening...* but Harry dismissed the idea as a product of his mind and what had happened in Morocco in his time there.

(A/N: I'm getting tired of doing 'Hagrid's heavily accented dialogue)

Hermione and Harry had discussed what might have had Hagrid done in the holidays and they both came to the same conclusion. Hagrid was sent to the giants as an ambassador to bring news of the impending war between light and dark wizards. Suddenly Hermione started to look around the room for something, sensing that their privacy was suddenly not assured. It was almost as if she knew that behind the hut Malfoy was listening in on the conversation with a clear hearing spell.

" Ron you feel that?" she whispered looking around the cabin.

" Feel what?" answered a confused Ron.

" Almost like there is..." Harry did not finish his sentence but Hermione got the message.

Hagrid was looking back and forth between Harry and Hermione as if they were mad. Hermione searched her mind for a spell, which she found, and cast it on the four people present.

" rof tnaem" she said as she pointed her wand one by one until all of them were under the spell. Ron looked taken aback when he was the first person to get hit by a spell he did not even know the purpose of. He shouted something really loud as he stood up from his chair and only Hermione reacted to it. 

Harry and Hagrid only saw their lips move. Hermione said something to Ron and he quietly sat down on his seat just before his gaze travelled back and forth between Harry and Hagrid. She cast the spell on her self, before speaking to the other three present.

" That was a privacy spell," she said before getting interrupted by Hagrid.

" Why did we need that for?" he asked

" I got the feeling that someone was spying on us." said Harry as he looked at Hermione for support.

" Yeah me too... It was really eerie. Harry and me are spotters right..." she looked at Hagrid who she had no idea if he was aware of what it was. She took it in her stride when he indeed knew what it was. "Well, I did some research and found out that spotters can tell when someone is spying on them."

" I thought I was just imagining things-," said Harry.

" Well, now you know the full story… anyhow…" she turned to Hagrid, " I assume this has something to do with the fact that you and Madame Maxime went to the giants for support... am I right?"

Hagrid looked dumbfounded. He did not expect the topic to arise almost the moment they entered the hut. Hagrid had assumed Harry would slowly pump him for more information, until he eventually slipped. He guessed the fact that someone was listening onto the conversation meant that the topic was going to come up sooner than he had expected.

" Well... yeah. Me and Olimp...Madame Maxime..." there was a slight increase in Hagrid's happiness, as he mentioned the name "...went to mountains of Siberia and Himalayas to look for them. We looked in the Gobi desert and we found some small tribes of Giants..."

" So what happened..." asked an impatient Ron.

" ... We didn't convince them to join the war with our side"

Ron, Harry and Hermione paled at this sentence. If the giants joined with Voldemort the war would be long and disastrous for the light side. " ... You mean they joined Vold-I mean You-Know-Who." Said Harry with an audible gulp.

" No!" said Hagrid who seemed seemingly surprised as to how Harry had come to that conclusion, " I said they are not fighting with us. I never said they were gonna fight against us..."

The three friends understood what the statement meant and their faces brightened immediately. This meant that though the giants wouldn't be fighting with the light side they would not be fighting against them either. The giants had agreed not to participate in the war at all.

" That's good then isn't it?" asked Ron.

" It would be but..." Hagrid paused and Ron spoke up. " There is a 'but', this can't be good..."

"... There was a rumour of a big giant tribe somewhere in Europe, but we didn't know where about. We looked all over there and we couldn't find them. If they joined You-Know-Who, then I don't think it'll matter if the other giants join him or not."

" Did you look in Ukraine?" asked Harry suddenly. He was just as surprised to hear what he had said, as those with whom he was sitting. He just could not think of any reason why he would blurt out Ukraine.

" Why would we look there?" asked Hagrid scrunching his nose making his eyebrows almost become one. Harry did not know why those words came out of his mouth. He was still lost as to how they related to what Hagrid was saying when Hermione came to his rescue.

" I know..." she said eagerly raising her hand to answer the question. Hagrid nodded in her direction when she spoke ups, " It' like this… When Harry's father James Potter went to look for wild beasts at the beginning of his 7th year, he met this friendly giantess." she stopped in mid speech. Suddenly the implication of what she was saying hit her.

* It couldn't be... I mean why would a person with such a vicious record, would help a Human -but she did, and asked about Hagrid* thought Hermione, as she kept looking at Hagrid.

" ...Err... I don't know how I can put this..." she gulped and said, "... but I think he met your mom there."

" What?!" shouted Hagrid as he rose from his chair. The room shook she the chair fell. " My mom... She's still alive? - She asked about me." Hagrid rushed to where Harry was sitting and lifted him right out of his chair. Harry was too surprised to do anything but be lifted up in the air.

" What're you doing?" asked Harry in a panic. He forgot for a second he was a wizard and he had his wand in his hand.

" Where did your father see my mother and what did they talk about?" he demanded in a roaring voice.

Harry understood what Hagrid must have been feeling. For years he had thought his mother was dead and now that there was a glimmer of hope that he would get to see his mother once, his emotions would have overwhelmed him too. It was a good thing that Hermione had her wand out and was not in shock like Harry and Ron seemed to be. 

" Nephrite" she said, casting a calming spell on Hagrid. 

Hagrid suddenly felt all his emotions dampen a bit. With this also came the realisation that he had been holding Harry three feet off the floor. He looked deeply ashamed as he slowly put Harry down on the floor.

" Forgive me Harry... I don't know what came over me…" said Hagrid as a single tear escaped his eyes.

" Don't worry about it. I would have had done the same thing if the situation was reversed..." he said and added a joke at the end to lighten the mood, " Though I really doubt that I could have had lifted you off the floor."

Hagrid laughed at the joke and so did the other two in the room. With the mood lightened, everyone sat down again. Harry told him about how Hagrid's mother had saved James Potter from certain death at the hands of the Chimera, and how the only thing she wanted to know was how Hagrid was doing in school. He said she was very proud to hear that Hagrid was a great grounds keeper at Hogwarts and very popular with the students. 

After hearing that last bit of information, Hagrid cried for a full five minutes before he finally smiled and asked the trio a question. " Want some of my Rock cakes?" the trio's face faltered, as they politely refused saying they had to get back into the castle. 

They promised to come back and visit soon.

~~~

****

Thanks to MythX for Beta editing this chapter

END OF CHAPTER  
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	27. CH 27: Cho, Charms and Runes RR

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Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 27/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

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Chapter Number: 27  
**Chapter Name:** Cho, Charms and Runes

(**Rewrite** A/N: Very slight change in the story. I decided that I t was very possible to keep every thing smooth, by introducing the Cho talk at lunch time rather than the devoting an entire day to it, as I had originally thought.)

One of the hazards of writing stories off the top of your head is that you forget to do things. Well I forgot to do several things, now I've done them.

As the three friends rushed through the corridors and secret passageways of Hogwarts, they laughed (Harry and Ron) and giggled (Hermione) approaching their destination, the great hall. As they approached the hall, Harry noticed a particularly sad looking Cho talking to a few of the Hufflepuffs. The euphoria that he was feeling a moment ago vanished. She looked as mortified as the first time he saw her this year and it was plainly obvious to all people that Cho was still grieving for Cedric.

Harry stopped in mid step, making his two friends get a fair bit in front of him. When they realised that Harry was falling behind they ran back to where Harry was. They saw Harry looking at Cho, with an unrecognisable expression on their faces.

" You okay?" asked Hermione, taking his hand while he walked forward and she walked facing him.

" I'm okay..." started to say Harry, until he realised that his friends would know that he was lying, " well, actually no - I think I need to talk to Cho..."

When both of his friends nodded in agreement, he gathered up his courage to face Cho Chang.

Susan Bones and several of the Hufflepuffs had approached Cho to tell that they suspected Harry to have had murdered Cedric to get close to her. The grief-stricken house had convinced themselves that the Minister of Magic was right - the dark lord had not risen, and Harry had used it as an excuse to kill Cedric.

Cho Chang might have been grieving for Cedric, but anger at the loss of the very first glory in a long time had not clouded her judgement. She knew, from what the professors had told them in class, that Harry and his two friends had risked their lives in their very first year to stop the rise of the Dark Lord. 

And then in the last year, Professor Sinistra had confided that Harry fought and killed the basilisk of the dark lord when he was in his second year. In Cho's opinion, someone, who had defied Lord Voldemort so many times, would never kill someone for his or her own gains. 

She was also privy to a bit of information that none of the other Hufflepuff knew about. After the ball, Cedric had told her that it was because of Harry that he had managed to get past the first task. He told her that if Harry had never told him about the dragon, he would never have known what to do. He probably would have had died. 

When Cho saw Harry approach her, she did not want to talk to the Hufflepuffs anymore. She left in the middle of Susan's plans of revenge, making her angry.

" Hi Cho" said Harry.

" Hello" her reply was short.

" I need to...." started Harry but she interrupted him.

" Yeah.... we need to talk."

" Do you want to talk outside? By the lake?"

" Sure...I guess"

It took a while to reach the side of the lake. Both of them sat on the bank leading up to the peer, lazily basking in the warm sunshine. They sat there for a while, neither wanting to really talk. Finally realising that he should start, Harry spoke in the gentlest voice he could muster. It was hard since his inside felt like stone.

" I wanted to talk about Cedric. I'm really so..." Cho interrupted him. She was getting a bit sick and tired of treating her like a fragile doll. She was more interested in other matters.

" Can you tell me what happened in the third task?"

" Okay..." said Harry as he covered the events of the tournament.

When he reached the part about getting transported to the graveyard, Harry was feeling sick. But for the sake of Cho he kept going. When said the part about the green spark hitting Cedric, Cho broke down next to him and started to cry.

Harry was not sure of what to do. He put his arm around her, and gently brought her closer. While he did this Harry realised something, he didn't have to force himself to believe that Cho was no longer a romantic possibility, for when he put his arms around her he realised his feeling towards Cho had changed to what he felt for Hermione or Ginny. How a brother feels about a sister.

" It'll be alright..." he said, "...you'll get past this. Time heals all wounds, just give it time."

" I know," she whimpered in his chest, before she looked up onto Harry's face and asked, " What happened after that?"

Harry was surprised that Cho would want to talk about what happened after Cedric died. He really wanted to tell his friends what had happened after Cedric died, first. But realised that Cho deserved to know rest of the events more than anyone else. So he told her, everything. Including the part about when Voldemort's wand connected with his own. He did not tell that his wand had the same core as Voldemort's, or tell her what it was called. He did not think Cho would feel the same way knowing those two specifics of the story.

When he said how his mother and father's shadow form had emerged, Cho cried in his arms some more.

" It must have had been horrible for you" she said, hugging Harry's midsection with more force than even she had known she could. It was an effort for Harry to breathe, but he did not say anything.

" It was, but then again I had lost my parents a long time ago. I never really knew them, when this happened. I have some pictures now, but I have no memory of them. I learned something about my parents in the holidays...If the same thing happened again, I don't know what I would do."

Cho looked up and saw Harry's face. He looked handsome and in the bright sunlight, his features were even more pronounced. She kissed him -

- On the cheeks. (A/N: you really didn't think I was going to let them kiss on the mouth...did you?)

" You know there can never be anything between us and it's not because I know reporters would have a field day with me and you dating each other..."said Cho.

" I know... I think my feelings about you have changed... I used to" Harry blushed very slightly, " –have a crush on you, but now"

" You don't have to say it. I know how you feel. When you walked in the great hall that day, I wasn't even attracted to you, like all the other girls were. I knew they were right in being attracted to you, but I just did not feel the same way." She smiled and said, " I think I felt more for that Malfoy creep than you."

" You don't have to go that low," said Harry, kissing her cheek once. " You look much better with a smile" It was Cho's turn to turn pink in the cheeks.

Harry got up and extended his palm to Cho. She took it and hand in hand they walked back into the great hall. Just before they entered, Cho let go of Harry's hand gave him a small hug and one last kiss on the cheek.

" We'll be friends...no matter what," she said, as she headed to the entrance and then to the Ravenclaw table.

Harry turned around and saw the sun above, shining brightly, he murmured, " We will. I just hope there is something to be friendly about before the end of the year."

Harry and Cho might have had thought that they were alone when they drew closer for comfort, but they really weren't. The highly charged emotions running through Harry's mind blinded his ability as a spotter to detect that there was a fifth year girl, namely a Hufflepuff by the name of Susan Bones. From where she was standing their hugs and kisses appeared intimate. This was the final bit of information that proved in her mind that Harry had indeed killed Cedric to get Cho. And it looked like he had succeeded. She really didn't blame Cho for falling for Harry. He was the most handsome boy in the school and there was no way, in her opinion, she could have had resisted the two headed snake. 

Ron and Hermione as always, were in the middle of the biggest fight imaginable over his involvement in S.P.E.W. Though Harry very partially agreed, (the bit about house elves punishing themselves for displeasure of their master) he was against some of the more outrageous things that Hermione wanted for them, namely the masters to serve the elves once a month. This was supposed to create a bond of understanding between the master and the servant.

Harry thought being paid to work and not being punished was the best the house elves could hope for. He wasn't looking forward to the day Hermione would pass that particular thing into the law books. He knew Hermione was persistent and would pass every single thing she wanted into law, because of the way she was.

* I better separate the married couple before they kill themselves * thought Harry, referring to Hermione and Ron on the Gryffindor table.

Once he did manage to separate them, by sitting between them, Harry ate like a pig, without a thought to how he was being looked at. He had nothing in the morning and people seeing him eating like a pig was not his problem. His main problem was the fact that Professor Snape was very interested to get back to his class, and that meant that he might not get another scrap of food until the end of the day, as he was very sure that he was going to have to avoid girls all day long.

" Umm... Well, that was the best meal I ever had." Said Ron rubbing his belly slowly to emphasise the point. " What class do we have now?" he asked Hermione.

" Well you have Divination and we as in Harry and I have Runes and dead languages"

Ron's face faltered for a second, as this was the first class of Divination that Harry would not be in with him. 

" Well... Good luck" said Ron as he made a dash for his Divination class. 

Harry was a bit depressed about this as well but consoled himself with the fact that he would be with him in most classes. Hermione then tentatively reached out and grabbed Harry's hand. 

" Let's go," she said, as she proceeded to drag Harry by his hand. It amazed Harry to no end that Hermione could actually drag him somewhere when she was both shorter and weighed much less than him.

The class she dragged Harry into was the on the second floor of the west wing. It was large and was occupied by students. The students he recognised were mostly from Ravenclaw. It made sense to him that the Ravenclaws would choose to do this rather than take a fluffy subject like Divination. It also scared him that the whole class was full of people who had been doing the subject for as long as he had been doing the fluffy subject.

Hermione lead the way to the two empty seats at the back of the class and sat down. Hermione was quick to ask him about how he was feeling since this was a new class and all. " About as good as I hoped I could be"

" Don't worry... Professor Hawthorn is the nicest and kindest....", She was interrupted by the Harry, who panicked at the mention of the woman's name. It was quite understandable since Hawthorn was well over a hundred years old and was the reason why he felt nauseous during the sorting ceremony.

* But I thought she taught Gnome Psychology... Oh no, It's her... I have to get out of here * he thought, as he got up from his chair determined to beg Professor Trelawney to let him back into the class. 

But he quickly sat down again when he saw the "woman" come into the class. Before the Professor could see him, Harry quickly went down on the floor and started to whisper to Hermione. " Hermione, I have to get out of here. That woman was winking at me in the great hall..." his whole body shuddered as he said those words.

" Did you think? - Oh this is funny -I'll have to remember this" said Hermione, as she started to laugh out loud at both Harry's position on the floor and what he had just said.

" Why are you laughing? Keep it down, will ya? " Said Harry, who was panicking even more now since her laughter was drawing more attention from the class and eventually the teacher would notice that Harry was in the room. 

" Because..." Hermione could not finish the sentence before she burst into laughter yet again.

" Come on... keep it down will you, please? I don't want to draw anymore attention" there was urgency in his voice that did not escape Hermione.

" Ok..." she answered as the amount of laughter from her was decreasing. "...

It's just that..." a bit more laughter, "...she winks at every one. She has a muscle problem in her right eye..." Hermione could no longer keep the laughter down; she fell to the floor and started to roll around in the ground.

Hermione's overt display of laughter caused the whole class to turn around and look at what was so funny. Harry quickly took his seat again, before Professor Hawthorn could make her way to the back of the room to see what was the cause of all the commotion. She was very surprised to see that Hermione was causing all the noise. 

* It's really sad when the good ones go bad... * she thought sadly, but her mood improved quite a lot when she saw the boy next to Hermione's seat.

*Yam, new meat. *

Professor Hawthorn cast a calming charm on Hermione, who promptly stopped laughing and returned to her seat. " I'm very disappointed in you Hermione. I expected more from you" with that, she returned to the front of the class, without giving Hermione a chance to defend herself.

" We have a new student in class" said Professor Hawthorn as she looked up the new name at the bottom of the register. " Potter, Harry...." she choked on the name just as the words left her mouth. She was rather quick to recover from her shock.

" Well... Professor McGonagall told me you switched from Divination but she did indeed forget to tell me you would be coming in here. This is a complex subject and with the OWLs this year and I doubt it would be easy for you to catch up on the subject..."

" It won't be." interjected Hermione, " I made him go through last year's textbook and he has already done up to the third chapter of the book." Hermione's voice carried with it unmistakable pride in it.

" Well in that case I really have nothing to say. Good thing I did not assign any homework for the holidays, otherwise you would be having a lot of trouble in class, Mr. Potter. Okay, now class, we need to go over the basics of last year and then we will start on this year's work.

Though Harry had caught up in the holidays, Harry still had a hard time in class applying the theories to practical things they were asked to do. The subject was hard and required Harry to do more thinking then any of his other classes. At the end of the class his brain was going into overdrive just to keep up with the class. He soon realised that though Hermione might have been confident that he would be an okay student in the subject, he had a long way to go.

The class left him wanting more of it though this mind was totally smashed because of the amount of work it had done. Just before he left the class,

Professor Hawthorn invited him to the front of the class for a chat. Before Professor Hawthorn had a chance to say anything, Harry asked his question,

" Do you think I have a chance of passing this subject?"

"Don't worry just yet about failing. You did well, for your first day. You'll need to work a lot harder in this subject then the others because this subject is more about knowledge than actually performing magic." At this point she winked at him making Harry cringe, "... I'm sure Hermione would be more than happy to help you in your studies."

Though she noticed the cringing Professor Hawthorn let it slide. Students who had been in her class since the beginning of their third year were still not used to her winking at awkward times, and this was Harry's first day. They talked for another four minutes before she let him leave the room with a warm smile on her face. When he went outside, he found Hermione and Alicia both laughing their heads off about something...

Outside the class, as Hermione waited she was surprised to feel someone tapping on her shoulder. She was quite surprised to see that it was Alicia Spinnet.

" Hey... What are you doing here?" asked Alicia.

" Just waiting for Harry to stop talking with Professor Hawthorn..." she noticed that Alicia's interests suddenly left from the conversation, as she tried to look into the room to see if she could see Harry. 

* Hmmm, I wonder... * thought Hermione, * if she is interested in Harry...* 

But she quickly dismissed that thought since the headgirl was very popular with the sixth and seventh year boys, so why would she be interested in Harry who was a full two years younger than her?

Alicia quickly caught herself in the middle of her search and quickly turned back to Hermione to answer her question, " Well I have Runes now" then she remembered something and a question, " Why is Harry in this class? I though he was in Divination..."

" He was" replied Hermione, " I convinced him to switch to another class and as luck would have it he switched to Runes." She would have had asked her why she wanted to know that but before she could Alicia asked her a question. 

" How was his class? I mean it was his first right so was it easy for him or did he muddle through it?"

" He did well enough... I suspected that he would have had done better if Professor Hawthorn didn't keep winking at him." 

Alicia giggled and asked, " How did he take it?"

" Not well. You should have seen him..." then Hermione said what happened at the beginning of the class and Alicia burst into laughter. Her laughter was loud and combined with Hermione's it echoed through the corridors. They both stopped promptly when they saw Harry approach them.

Harry's suspicion that they were discussing his behaviour at the beginning of the class was confirmed when both Hermione and Alicia stopped laughing when they saw him.

* Oh great... Why did she have to tell her? * Thought Harry, slightly miffed at Hermione, but then he thought that if Hermione hadn't done it then one of the Ravenclaws could have fabricated a story and it would be all over the school. Realising that he quickly forgave Hermione. Harry assumed an expression that said he had no idea what the two girls could be talking to her about.

" Alicia... what are you doing here?"

" Well nothing... I mean... I have my Runes next..." she was having a hard time trying to stop herself from laughing out loud. " Oh look the door is opening... I have to go." She said, quickly taking off in the direction of the class.

Half way to there she turned around and yelled, " I want a rematch for that snitch catching game"

" When?" he answered back. Harry's heart did a flip, but he was not certain as to why it did that.

" Today... how about after duelling class"

The Dueling classes were held for all the levels together. Well, all the people who could show up on the free timeslots. Harry and Alicia ended up in all the same Dueling class, by luck. He was glad for his luck 

" OK. I'll be there."

Hermione watched the exchange with interest. She could not shake the feeling that Alicia, as uncharacteristic as it sounded, was indeed interested in Harry. " Well Harry..." she said, " Looks like you have another admirer", with a grin spreading across her face.

Harry was in shock. For a moment he thought that using his brain on overdrive must have short-circuited his comprehension, but quickly realised that was not the case when he inspected Hermione's face. " How would you know?" he retorted.

Alicia was a very beautiful woman. The word woman applied to her more than any other female that he had had the pleasure of meeting. She was both beautiful and smart, not only book smart but also smart in the ways of the world. She had a nice sense of humour and was very easy to talk to. All in all she was a person that Harry could see himself getting involved with, but he still thought that the chances of her liking him in return were less than zero.

* Probably in the negative territory * thought Harry, rather glumly. (A/N: his negativity is an inspiration to me...)

" Couldn't you tell by the way she was looking at you?"

" How was she looking at you...? I mean me... How was she looking at me?"

" Same way I look when I'm thinking about Victor I suspect?" there was a sigh in there for Ron. It was a habit that she now had, it was a pity he was not there otherwise Hermione would have enjoyed seeing Harry struggling to hold back Ron.

" Are you sure? -" They started walking toward Ron's Divination Class, " -I mean think about it. She is the headgirl -The headgirl for god's sakes. She can get any boy she wants to. Any boy."

" Well it looks like she might be interested in you."

" Nope. Can't be" said Harry.

She wanted to go on and tease him about this, but she knew from the tone of Harry's voice that the discussion was over. As much as Harry liked Alicia, she was out of his league and going after her would only make things worse for him. It was a good thing they spotted Ron coming down the rope ladder when they did, as it destroyed the possibility of having an awkward moment between Harry and Hermione.

(A/N: Again his negativity reaching to new heights... err bottoms... makes me look pretty confident.)

" There's Ron... lets go" said Harry as he started to run toward Ron's direction. The three friends entered their next class, which was charms, exactly one minute and thirty three seconds later.

Professor Flitwick looked even smaller than the year before, even taking into account the fact that Harry had a massive growth spurt over the summer holidays. Harry quickly took his usual seat next to Ron and Neville. Hermione sat next to Ron, much to his delight. The delight however increased when the Hufflepuffs joined the class and they had to swish together to make room for the new students. Ron blushed slightly while Hermione just sat there enjoying the closeness though she showed no outward sign of enjoyment.

(A/N: I feel Queasy... damn that's the fourth one. At this rate I'm going to make the electronics store ver happy)

Charms was Harry's worst subject and as always Hermione was great at it like all the other subjects. Ron actually fared better at this subject than Harry, though both were pretty much at the bottom of the class. Harry had no intention of showing off how much he had improved in all his subjects as he suspected this would only make him more of a target by the girls and he had no intention of loosing the normalcy of his life... or what's left of it… even if it meant that he had to sabotage his own work to do it. 

Harry was confident that he could do all the charms in the book quite quickly now, but ruining all of them would take even more hard work then trying to do them right.

* This will be an interesting challenge * thought Harry as he finally started to listen to what Professor Flitwick had been saying in class.

" The assignments were very well done and the top mark for it goes to... err...wait it's coming" he said shaking a small bit of parchment, "Ahh...it's coming... Here it is... Harry Potter"

Professor Flitwick fell of his chair as he said the name. It was not as embarrassing as the first time he had done it. It looked like he was more shocked that he had said the name than the first time he had called Harry's name from the class register.

" Oh yes. I forgot... 128% " he said shaking his head at himself for forgetting that he had indeed given the mark to him.

The whole class turned to Harry, making him wish the classroom was a desert and he was an ostrich, so he could bury his head in the sand. His face rapidly became pink and the smile he had on his face disappeared a few minutes ago was gone when he saw the look on Hermione's face. 

She had never come second on anything and this was one of her better subjects. She had her mouth open in horror. She was quick to recover, but she felt suddenly very angry with Harry, for stealing her rightful place as the number one in charms. After all she was the only one of the three who managed to learn how to cast the unlocking spell out if them, in their first year.

The rest of the class was very awkward for Harry. He did not even try any of the Charms, explaining that he was no good at them, but the occasional look from the people in the class made him think that they suspected that he just did not want to show how good he really was. When the class finished, Hermione ran from the class and was not seen during the half an hour break. Ron took off after her but lost her after a few minutes. Harry however made his way to the Dueling class quite unsure of why Hermione behaved the way she did. When he got there after the break a surprise was waiting for him.

~~~

Thanks to MythX for the beta reading.

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
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	28. CH 28: The Big Surprise RR

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 28/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 28  
**Chapter Name:** The Big Surprise

Hermione ran as fast as her feet would carry her. She was fit, so that was really fast compared to Ron, who had got very little exercise in the summer holidays and had trouble keeping up with Hermione. After two minutes of solid running she managed to loose Ron. Tears were streaming down her cheeks when she found herself in the library.

(A/N: Where else would she go?)

* Just like me.... any problems go to books...* she thought to herself as she stood against the wall between two shelves of books.

Those two shelves of books had in them her favourite books and she liked nothing better then to read them for fun, but even the sight of them now was making her angrier than she had been before. She allowed herself to slide down the wall as she tried desperately to stop crying... 

* Why did he have to get more than me? I'm the one who studies all the time...

I'm the one who can do... * she could not even finish the thought when she broke down crying again... * Maybe I should have had studied harder...NO! * Suddenly her personality changed.

She became convinced that since Harry had used his powers, it was all his fault. She did not consider thinking about the fact that if Harry had not told her about those powers she would still be in the dark about them. Nor that she herself now had the same ability... even if it'll take another five months for her to do it. Even amidst a personal crisis like this a book caught her attention.

(A/N: I'll explain her behaviour later... it's not because she is in love)

The small shimmering red book looked like a new edition to this section of the library. The two shelves actually covered famous witches and wizards. From Abu the Arrogant to Web the Wonderer, they were all present here. So either the book was a new edition to the library resources or it was a book on a new Wizard. She loved reading the achievements of those famous people and dream about the day they would write a book about her.

The title of the book was intricately written in golden ink. The contrast of the golden letters to the dark red cover was what got her attention in the first place.

"... Tale of the Saviour..." Hermione whispered the title of the book for herself.

At first she thought the book was about Harry, because of the remarkable resemblance, but that was hardly the reason she thought the book was about Harry. The person on the cover was behaving exactly like all the pictures of Harry that Hermione had ever seen. He was desperately trying to escape the confines of the picture frame. Once that failed he tried to hide behind the things in the background.

She was so angry with Harry she actually contemplated getting her wand out and disfiguring the picture on the cover. Some key differences made Hermione reconsider disfiguring the book, but when she noticed the lack of a lightning shaped scar one the forehead she put her wand back inside the cloak. One difference in the picture made her put her wand back where it was. She went back to the title above the picture and read the small subtitle.

It read ' Harold Parker of Morocco'.

Hermione actually thought a few small scars in appropriate places might have made the man appear more than just a pretty face, like Gildroy Lockheart. Her entire body shuddered at the fact that she actually had a crush on that phoney man, but she decided not to pass judgement on Harold... just yet. She decided to read the book before passing judgement.

* That's the person Professor Binns was asking me about... What did he ask? * she thought for a second, before she went back to all the differences between Harold and Harry....

Since the age of the person on the photo looked remarkably like that of Harry now, she was surprised to see so many differences. The person was also missing scars to his belly and the left arm.

There was something odd on his chest that grabbed her attention. It looked like the tattoo... but the detail on the picture was not good enough for her to see the shape... for that matter she was not even sure if that was not just a part of a necklace of some sort.

Harold's hair though was very much like Harry's, they differed in the fact that Harry's were totally unruly while Harold's looked much more in control and half the length of what Harry has now. He also did not wear glasses, which actually made him appear less handsome in her opinion.

She could not really make out the colour of his eyes because of the amount of light that had been focused on his face, but Hermione guessed they were vivid blue...

* Like Ron * she thought dreamily.

* THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HAROLD AND HARRY IS THAT HE WOULD NOT GET MORE THAN ME.... * thought Hermione, as she bitterly walked to the issuing counter. It was irrational of her to think this way but she could not help it.

Madame Pince saw the puffy eyes that Hermione had, but said nothing when she handed Hermione back the issued book. Hermione did not know why, but just holding the book and looking at that person had ebbed away the anger she felt towards Harry.

By the time she left the library with the book safely in her book bag, she was ready to face people again. Hermione decided that Harry would receive silent treatment from her as a punishment for getting more than her until the next time they have an exam or something to that effect. When she beats Harry in Charms next she'll start talking to him again. On her way there, she found many ways to get even with Harry but she need not have bothered. All her plans involved beating Harry at the mid year exams, but her chance was going to come faster than she had anticipated.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After Charms class had finished, Harry had searched the entire castle, but he could not find her. The only place he had forgotten to look was the most likely place where Hermione was most likely to be. The Library. This simple fact did not register with him until much later, when he saw Ron accompany Hermione out of the library.

* You IDIOT! * Harry scolded himself for not thinking about it. * You looked all over the castle in the unlikely place and you forgot about the LIRARY... Ugh... How could you miss it? Why the hell didn't you just use the Marauder's Map!"

He ran towards their direction, coming to a full stop next to Hermione.

" Hey there, Hermione. Why did you run out of the Charms cl…"

Not only did Hermione not let him finish the sentence, quite unlike her, she actually pushed him to the ground. Harry was not on his guard and this came as a total surprise. Harry fell backwards on to the courtyard between the library and the main castle entrance. He scraped his hand in two places and it stung.

" Hey! Why'd you do that for?" said Harry.

" Don't come near me... you… you…" she didn't know how to finish the sentence so she just started to walk towards the castle.

Ron stopped just long enough to help Harry up off the ground and tell him the reason why Hermione was so mad with him.

" She's upset that someone got more than her in an assignment and on top of that…" he paused to actually make an effort to find a way to say it without making Harry feel like a total loser. " -it was you"

Harry had to admit that he had improved a lot since the ending of his fourth year, but he did not think that he was in anyway close to Hermione's level in terms of academic studies. He guessed that Hermione must have had taken it hard that the first time she was beaten in a subject it was by Harry, the person she helped over the holidays to become stronger.

At this point Ron noticed that Hermione was glaring at the two of them, " err... I have to go with her… you know…"

From Ron's voice Harry could tell that he really wanted to stay a bit longer and help him. This was the first time Ron had acted sincerely with Harry. He suspected that it had to do with the fact that Hermione was paying attention to him rather than spreading it between her two best friends.

He was happy that Ron was finally getting closer to Hermione, even thought it was coming at the cost of his and Hermione's friendship. It was Harry, who had told Ron to stop acting like a brat and show his feelings for Hermione. " Ya, I know." Replied Harry as he started to dust off his cloak. It surprised Harry a great deal that he was not as angry with Hermione as he was with Ron when he became jealous of the Harry getting all the attention in his fourth year. When he finally beat the last bit of dust out of his cloak he had a theory that was very sound. He assumed it was because this was the first time she had acted this way towards him. While with Ron it had almost been from day one. He sighed to himself and then headed in the same direction as where Ron and Hermione had gone.

The class seemed to drag on forever and Harry had only one thing to look forward to before the Saturday when the Quidditch trials were on. About five minute before the end of the class, Ali Pasha gathered the students into one place and made an announcement.

" The headmaster has approved the organisation of a Dueling tournament. It will be held in honour of all the fallen victims of the Shozar Wars.... You'll learn more about that in your History classes over the year so don't worry if you do not know what that war was about." He paused and looked at the expectant face of the students.

" There will be prizes for the victors... " There was a small round of applause from the students so Professor Pasha had to stop. Once the noise level went down he continued, " The prize is a One hundred point increase for the house and- " He paused this time to build some tension in the crowd, " One double pass to the Quidditch World Cup this upcoming summer"

The classroom exploded with applause from both the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws present. Professor Pasha put his hand up in an attempt to stop them from making too much noise. " ... There's more. The winner gets to meet and have dinner with their favourite team after the finals are over" This time the clapping and catcalls did not stop for anything. Professor Pasha tried a few times to calm the class before deciding to put up the signing sheet for tournament.

Ron and several other students wanted to take part in it the tournament. Though a lot of people were interested only few thought they had a chance realistically. Harry noticed some of his friends were among the people whose face lit up at the prospect. Three of them had the last name of Weasley.

One of them was George. George Weasley was the beater for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and as such had a lot of upper body strength. He was very health conscious so his body had very little fat, the six years... to that point... of Quidditch had given him excellent reflexes, but above all he had the motivation to win the tournament. He wanted to impress Alicia Spinnet.

One of the other two from the Weasley family was Ron. Ron, though not that fit, was very quick on his feat in terms of strategy. Last summer his father had been unable to get the tickets to the world cup and England this year had a real chance since they had taken Oliver Wood as the captain of the team. He knew his chances of winning the tournament were very slim but he wanted the Quidditch World cup tickets more than anything else.

* Even if I don't, I might be able to get Hermione's attention * thought Ron.

The last of the three was most definitely the Weasley with the most to offer to the tournament, this was Ginny Weasley. Harry knew for a fact that she was at the top of her grade in most subjects and there were only two differences between Hermione and her. 

First one was that Hermione studied all the time (though Harry and Ron had managed to corrupt her, the incident in the Charms class only proved that they had a long way to go) while Ginny found the subjects easy. The second was the most obvious one. Hermione did not have a crush on Harry like Ginny did. Harry could tell by the way Ginny's cheeks became pink every time he looked at her. Even after she and Collin Creevy became more than friends.

Unknown to Harry the reason for her entering the tournament was the same as her two brothers... well mostly, like George... She wanted to impress Harry with all she knew.

Harry scanned the face of his friends and saw that Cho Chang the sixth year

Ravenclaw prefect... not to mention the Quidditch seeker and the long-time crush of Harry's... was interested too. She had a real grudge against Voldemort after killing her boyfriend and this was her opportunity to see how she measured up. She knew that if she could not win the tournament then she had no chance of beating Lord Voldemort. The look of pain suddenly flashed through her face and Harry was forced to remove his gaze from her face. Though the talk with Cho had done a lot of good, that sudden pain was something that Harry would never get used to.

His gaze then fell upon Alicia, who was talking very animatedly to her friend Katie Bell. Harry knew that Alicia would sign up even before he saw her face. The reason being she thought it was her job to win points for the house more than anyone else, since she was the head girl. She was the chaser in the Quidditch team so she had a quick eye and it was her ability to see through most strategies which made the team think that she was going to be a great captain.

She was very fit, which Harry knew from the two times that he had run along side her in the morning. * Very fit...* thought Harry as suddenly his face flushed a little. He shook his head to get rid of the image of her in the tight running clothes that she was wearing a few days ago. It was this that had made him flush all of a sudden.

The last person that Harry recognised from the people who looked interested was Hermione. She actually caught Harry looking at her. She glared at him in a venomous way, which made Harry's heart sink. What Harry did not know was that Hermione wanted to enter the competition to beat him. She wanted to beat Harry so badly that she decided from that point on she would spend most of her time in the library reading up spells and practising them.

When Professor Pasha put up the signup sheet Hermione was the first one to signup, automatically assuming that Harry would definitely be participating in the tournament. She assumed that since it involved the Quidditch World cup he would enter. She was wrong, and she would not find out until it was too late for her to pull out of the competition. Hermione quickly dragged Ron to the library after class to do research to find great spells to use in the tournament.

While they were signing up, Harry headed for the Quidditch pitch to get ready for his rematch with Alicia. He still remembered what had happened the last time he was in a tournament. One person died. That death would not have happened if he did not offer to share the prize with Cedric.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Alicia was held back after class for an extra five minutes by Professor Pasha to go over the details of the upcoming tournament. Professor Pasha sensed that she wanted to finish it quickly so he let her go early while he talked to the Head Boy. Alicia raced through the corridors of the castle to get to the common room.

Her mind was racing through all the things that she had to do once she got there. She was convinced that if she knew exactly what she had to do then she could be on the field faster. She came to a full stop at the portrait. 

" In a big hurry are we, dearie..." the fat lady did not get to finish her sentence when Alicia said the password.

" Sugar Quill"

The fat lady was upset that she got no greeting, but she swung open the door nonetheless. In her hurry Alicia tripped on one of the loose floor tiles (everyone knew to avoid it) and landed right on top of...

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	29. CH 29: Alicia & Katie and the hint of wa...

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 29/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 29  
**Chapter Name:** Alicia & Katie and the hint of war (prank)

Alicia opened her eyes slowly to see whom she had tripped over. She hoped it was not George Weasley. He always seemed to be following her. She concluded that it was just her mind playing tricks on her... or it could be a trick being played on her mind by George or Fred.

As odd as it seemed to other people she could actually tell them apart. Something even their mother could not do. * It was a handy skill in my second year... I'm getting side-tracked * she thought.

She was relieved to see that it was actually Lee she had stumbled on to. Alicia quickly rolled herself off him. Fortunately there was no one in the common room as far as she could tell, so no one saw the compromising position they had ended up in right after the collision.

" Lee..." said Alicia, " I'm really sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going..."

" That's ok" he replied, rubbing his head a little where it had hit the floor.

" Are you sure?" suddenly she felt concerned for him, " Do you need to go to the Madam Pomfrey? -"

" No. I'm Ok. I have to get going now"

" Why are you in such a hurry?" she asked curiously.

" Snape's called a meeting of the school board in about two minutes"

" Why do they need you there?"

" I don't know..." Lee checked his watch to see what time it was. When he did he wished he had not.

" I have to go... I'll talk to you later" with that he rushed out of the common room and headed for a passageway close by.

Alicia had not noticed, but Katie had moved silently behind her best friend and was waiting for her to turn around so she could scare the hell out of her. When Alicia turned around she found herself almost nose to nose with her.

" Boo." said Katie in a soft voice, but it was enough to scare her.

" Aaaaah" screamed Alicia, as she took a step back. She got very angry, very fast when her brain registered that it was Katie. " I'm going to kill you," she said as she reached into her cloak to get her wand out.

" Sorry... I couldn't resist," said Katie as she lowered her head a little and covered it with her own hands.

" Well...." said Alicia, putting her wand back into the pocket, " Just don't do it again"

Alicia did not say anything to Katie before she headed for the girl's dormitory. A bit surprised that she was not punished, Katie followed her into the room. She watched as Alicia tore through all her outfits in search of something. Katie saw the range of clothes Alicia had in her closet opposite of her four-poster bed. Katie sat down on Alicia's bed and asked, " What are you looking for?"

"...I have to... I have..." Alicia tried several times to start the sentence but in her search she would forget to finish the sentence. 

" You know you'd sound a lot more sane if you didn't leave your sentences half finished"

" What? Oh" came a reply from Alicia who actually had paid no attention to what Katie had said.

Katie waked over to her friend and put her hand on her shoulder to get her attention. " What are you looking for?" she repeated the question.

" Well..." Alicia blushed a little and to avoid the topic she made a grab for one of her blouses, but Katie would not let her go.

" Well what?" asked Katie. She had just seen her best friend blush and she wanted more than anything to find out the reason why.

" I have a game with Harry" she said, making Katie very confused.

" What game?" she asked innocently enough until suddenly it dawned on her, " -Sweet Merlin!" Katie yelled as she stepped back from her friend. She put her hand on her mouth covering it and the other on her chest. " ...You...him... you..." Katie started to stammer, " you..."

" What?" asked Alicia finding her friend's reaction a bit of an insult.

" Well... it's Harry!"

" So"

" I know he's the tall, dark and handsome and all that.... but He's two years younger than you! And you're the head girl!"

" He's handsome and-" Alicia's eyes glazed over very slightly as she said, " he looks really good in running shorts"

Katie's initial shock wore off, after she remembered that Alicia was the youngest Seventh year in the school. The shock would not have had come at all if Harry was a year older. The shock turned to curiosity after a little while.

" So... how long have you guys been going out? Don't tell me all summer and you didn't even tell me," she said with mock anger.

" We're not seeing each other, for your information" she blushed and said, " -I'm just interested"

" So it's not a two way thing?"

" Not yet"

" Oh! So you're just trying to get close to him to see if there's interest in his part?"

" Hey! How did you know?" replied an astounded Alicia.

Katie did not answer her friend, but rather started to look through all the clothes that Alicia had in her closet. Finding nothing that she felt was appropriate for this type of situation, she went over to her own closet covered in posters of the Irish National Team. She opened it up and started to look through the mess for her friend.

" You didn't answer my question," said Alicia putting her hands on her hips.

" It's common sense... Well actually you didn't think it through did you?" Confused, Alicia asked, "What do mean?" 

Katie replied, " If you did think it through you would have had me involved from the beginning.... Here" she said as she handed two pieces of her clothes to Alicia.

" Why would I want to get you involved?" 

" Because... then you would have someone to tell you his reaction when he sees you.... Now let's see what we can do about your hair" 

" I don't have much time..." 

Katie had a grin on her face when she said, " Don't worry it'll only take a minute..."

As Alicia and Katie headed for the Quidditch field a few minutes (8 and 5/9 minutes to be exact) later they got talking.

" What are you playing anyway?" asked Katie

" Catch the snitch..." said Alicia.

Alicia explained the rules of the game (took half a minute). On their way to the ground Alicia told what had happened the day before and also told how Harry had let her use the Firebolt. 

" He let you use his Firebolt..." she was astounded. Katie the proud owner of a supped up Nimbus 2001 and was reluctant to give it to any one else. She highly doubted that if she was in Harry's shoes, then anyone other than her wouldn't even know that she had one, let alone allow someone other than herself ride on it.

When they arrived at the field they saw Harry looking at the hoops from the sideline. They had expected Harry to be waiting from them ready to go, but they were surprised to see that Harry was just staring at the hoops at the other end of the field. He had his bookbag with him and he was still wearing his black cloak. A worried glance was exchanged between Katie and Alicia as they headed towards where Harry was.

Alicia tapped on Harry's shoulder bringing him out of his daydream. He slowly looked up to see who it was and he was greeted with the sight of Alicia, a very big smile on her face. 

" Aren't we playing?" she asked.

(A/N: Bear with me... I have very little experience with women's dresses... * I'm shaking my head from side to side real fast *.... Wait that did not come out right... I don't know how to describe them very well... That's more like it *grin*)

Harry looked at her from where he was sitting on the ground. She had changed from the clothes that she had worn before in class to more casual clothes. She was wearing a light blue t-shirt with long black shorts. Her black hair was tied with a ponytail and the loose portion of it swished back and forth in the air. The bottom part of the t-shirt did the same as her hair.

" Yes..." he managed to stammer out.

" What about me?" asked a feminine voice.

Harry did not actually notice before that someone else was there too. Harry turned to the other side to see that the voice belonged to Katie. She looked rather stunning herself in a vivid red coloured sweatshirt and dark grey trousers. " You want to play as well?" he asked sceptically

Katie had noticed before that Harry had been growing more and more cute over the last four years and now over the summer he seemed to have jumped the bridge between cute and handsome. Not only that, he seemed to also have had broke the record for it. Even underneath his cloak she could make out the outline of his body. A little pink showed on her cheek as she examined Harry's body.

" Of course I do" she said with a mock-annoyed tone, " I thought that's what I asked"

" Ok then..." said Harry as he got to his feet.

" I want a rematch first," said Alicia. " ...If that's OK with you Katie"

" Sure go ahead. I'll do some loops in the air for a while" Katie sounded a bit disappointed.

Harry picked that up from her voice and said to Alicia, " Why don't both of you play on one team and I'll be the other one. You'll need all the help you can get from Katie not to loose this time" there was a mischievous smile on his face that both girls liked very much.

" Well... If you say so but I get the Firebolt this time" said Katie sounding very happy indeed as she looked around to see where Harry's famous red Firebolt was.

" Where is it by the way?" asked Alicia.

" It's in my room... I'll just summon it," he said as he took out his wand from the left compartment. " Accio Firebolt"

Right after saying the spell Harry started to undo the cloak. He did not notice the way the two girls were looking at him when he was doing so. Harry undid the top part of the cloak revealing that he was wearing a grey t-shirt with black sleeves. When the top of his old faded black trousers became visible, the attention of the girls switched to the red blur heading straight for Harry at an incredible speed.

Katie quickly grabbed it, before giving Alicia her supped-up Nimbus 2001. It was almost as if she was afraid that if she took too long getting the broom Harry might change his mind. Katie might have thought that it would be fun to ride the fastest broom in the world, but she should have been more careful and tested out the controls. No sooner was she three feet off the ground and the broom turned too fast and dived on to the ground. She was thrown of it and landed on a particularly muddy patch on the field.

Harry and Alicia fearing the worst when she did not get up, and ran to where she had landed. Katie was lying flat on the ground. They were not sure if they should move her or not, when Katie started to get off the ground. 

" That was a rush," she said, sitting up on the ground. Alicia came closer to her friend and hit her on the head with the palm of her hand. " Aow... what was that for?" she asked.

" Being stupid" stated Alicia as she grabbed one of Katie's hands and helped her off the ground.

"... That was worth it. It's amazing!" Her eyes were glazed as she started to describe all the feelings that she got on her short ten second ride on it. Harry was glad she did not crash until after a full minute of joy riding. He was fairly certain that he would not have been able to stop her from talking about if she had.

Alicia and Harry both gave Katie lots of advice before letting her on it again. Once she was used to the controls, the game stared. Alicia conveniently took the supped up Nimbus 2001 and rode up to where Katie was. Harry did not know that there was a difference between two light blue Nimbus 2001's so he did not object to the girls having both of the faster brooms present.

A bit further away in the castle the castle, two boys watched from the seventh year dorm room. It was the Weasley Twins. George was the one who looked like he could murder someone.

" See... I told you. He's making a move on both our girls!" said George.

" Technically they aren't our girls... you do know that right?"

" That's only because we haven't told them how we feel about them yet"

" Is that so? - When are you going to tell Alicia how you feel about her?"

" The same day you tell Katie how you feel about her..." retorted George

" I never said I like her... that way.... anyway, I know what you're thinking. I'm in if this goes on.... Just remember this is because of you and Alicia I'm doing this"

" That's the spirit brother..."

The game lasted and hour and a half before Katie 'suddenly' remembered that she had some homework to finish off so she took off. But before she went Alicia and Katie had a small talk.

" So what do you think?" Alicia asked Katie's opinion.

" He seems interested..."

Alicia's mouth spawned a smile. " Really... So you think I should ask him out?"

"What?" shouted Katie, " Are you crazy? - You don't make the first move. You let him make it.

"Oh OK."

"... And if he does ask you out sometime in the future, say that you're going as "friends" nothing more. You'll know from his behaviour after that, whether you want to get involved with him.... anyway I better get going. I just remembered, I really have to finish off the Muggle Studies homework"

" C'ya Harry" Katie yelled to who was on the other side of the field, struggling to put the practice snitch into the box. Harry did not turn back and face Katie, but rather put up his hand in the air and waved it while he used the other hand to keep the snitch from escaping.

After Katie left, Alicia jumped on the Firebolt and went to where Harry was. By the time she reached him, Harry had managed to put the snitch back in the box. Snitches aren't supposed to fight when being put into a box, but this practise one was rather odd.

" You done?" she asked.

" Yep" Harry replied to a mud covered Alicia.

" So how long is it till the dinner time?"

" 12 minutes" he said without looking at the watch.

" How do you know? You didn't check the watch."

" ...Err...err... I was looking at the watch rather a long time when I tried to put the Snitch away..."

" Well... we should head into the castle now. It was a good game" she said a smile, " What was the score? - I forgot"

Harry picked up the cloak and his book bag that he had deposited on the banks of the Quidditch field before they had started to play. " You didn't forget... you just like to rub it in that's all. 6-4 to you and KATIE". Harry emphasised the part about Katie.

" A win is win.... By the way, I was wondering... Are you going to sign up for the tournament, the Dueling one? 'Cause I didn't see your name up there and the deadline is today at midnight. Professor Pasha made the deadline rather short to make sure only the people interested signup"

" No. I'm just going to watch it from the sidelines" there was no regret in Harry's voice when he said that, so Alicia was interested to know why Harry would not want to enter the tournament. When suddenly she remembered the events of the last year.

" Do you think you could… I don't know… help me out getting ready for the tournament?"

" Sure… what do you need help with" he asked.

" I know a lot of spells and things but I really need someone to practise it on..."

" You mean, like a testing dummy?"

" Well when you say it like that, you make it sound so negative. All you have to do is just stand there and let me practice it on you… oh that does sound like I'm testing things on you."

" Don't worry… I don't mind being tested on… I mean yes I'll help you."

" Good."

When Harry and Alicia walked into the Gryffindor common room everyone was leaving for dinner. They stood to one side of the corridor as the whole house went by. Harry received many venomous glares from older students while at the same time he could see the very young ones suddenly look up to him like he was a god. When the procession finally ended they went their separate ways. After dinner, the two played some exploding snaps before retiring to their own dorms.

When Harry entered through the door, he was surprised to see that Fred and George were waiting for him…

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
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	30. CH 30: The Plight of a winged beast RR

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 30/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 30  
**Chapter Name:** The Plight of a winged beast

Right after dinner Hermione sat down on her favourite comfortable seat by the fire. As much as Ron wanted to join Hermione, he had eaten like a pig at dinnertime so was feeling drowsy. After about five minutes Hermione let him off the hook and said their goodbyes. She opened up the book that she got in the library. Just as she opened the book up to read it, Harry and Alicia walk into the room.

Her experiences in Morocco had changed her personality slightly...er...no more like going from a dolphin to a killer whale (A/N: I'm not sure if they actually kill things... it just sounds better). The adventurous and somewhat domineering Hermione that she had come to know over the summer was still very much ruling over her mind. The anger she felt towards him in the library came back a hundred folds. She had to restrain herself greatly not to go up to him and beat the living daylights out of him.

She turned the book in her hands several times over as she watched the game of exploding snaps progress. Every time either Alicia or Harry burst into laughter she got more and more angry at Harry for getting more than her in Charms. When they finally finished, Hermione quickly opened the book and pretended to read it.

As Harry passed Hermione to go to the dorm room he had one glance of Hermione behind the book. His face betrayed a small grin, when he saw that Hermione was holding the book upside down. It took great restraint on Harry's part not to tell Hermione that she was reading the book upside down.

Though Harry might have had thought that his inwardly smile had not shown on his face, Hermione noticed it. Her anger tripled when she realised the reason for Harry's small grin, but she did not turn the book back to the way it was supposed to be until he left the room. It was as if she was saying to Harry that she intended to do that from the beginning.

After a few minutes when no one was looking, Hermione turned the book the right side up and started reading. Inside the cover the first page read...

****

{ Tale of the Saviour } 

__

A tale of the Harold Parker 

****

By 

__

Professor Dippit  
&  
Melina Khan 

****

(c) Cholera & Sanoe Khan Publishers   
from the people that brought you 'Menacing Menace' and 'Troubled thoughts' available at a shop near you 

She turned the page over quickly. The pages were all blank! It took a while for her to figure out the reason. Morocco is the most populated Muggle born city in the world. So the chances of a muggle finding the book accidentally is huge. That is the reason the pages are blank. It reveals its contents when a wizard or a witch opens the book with their wand.

Hermione took out her wand and tapped the first page of the book. The writing on the page shimmered into existence. Hermione did a quick scan through the book to see if there were more pictures of the person on the front cover. There were lots of pictures in the book but only one of the person on the cover. Hermione reluctantly went back to the front of the book and started to read.

****

Foreword

__

It may seem like a fairly tale, but heroes do exist. They  
exist not for glory, not for fame, but to help others. This  
is book is dedicated to one person who from the beginning  
believed that the war sweeping Morocco was indeed one that  
had been orchestrated by it's enemies to bring it down to  
its knees.  
  
Heroes do exist. They exist in places and in people unlike  
what you would expect of them to be.  
  
I had the privilege of knowing this man. He called himself  
Harold Parker. His origins unknown. His history unknown.  
This book does not try to reveal information before his  
appearance in Morocco, as there is no record of him anywhere.  
He was a man of mystery when he left Morocco, but before that  
he was a boy of curiosity and intrigue.  
  
I was with him through his journey from the first time he  
appeared in Morocco to when he left forever. This book is the  
tale of what he did when he was there.  
  
Much of the story is in anecdotal format, but there has been  
no exaggeration of his abilities mentioned here. Definitely  
not at the beginning nor at the end.  
  
Signed  
**Professor Dippit**

The author's note managed to grab all of Hermione's attention and she quickly flicked to the real start of the book.

****

Chapter 1 : Time of his Arrival

__

It was a summer morning that he arrived in Morocco. From what he tells me he was severely injured, when he arrived. He did not mention the specifics of his injuries, but from research done by my assistant revealed that he had severe lacerations to his mid section. Though there are several corroborating accounts of him appearing with injuries, they were not seen by the author (me) when we met.

This is not the only inconsistency surrounding this man. I call him a man because of his achievement, not because of his age. When he first appeared he looked no older than sixteen years of age. Even that would be grossly over estimating his age. He had no stubble, nor any body hair to speak of. This is the basis of my observation. 

He was well built, as you can tell from the only picture he agreed to take before leaving. He was a 'freeman', this is a term for those belonging to neither Tozan nor their rival clan of Shoran. Freeman such as him or me were looked down upon. Without the backing of either of the clans freemen had little chance of fighting back....

The rest of the chapter was boring... even for Hermione. It went on and on about the socio-political situation in both Morocco and the rest of the world. Hermione got titbits of information on Harold during the next five or six page. Frustrated she decided to read the book when she had more time and felt more energetic. It did not take her long after that to reach her room and sleep like a log until the next day.

Harry was rather surprised to see that two people were waiting for him on the other side of the door leading into the boys dorm room. Fred and George came over to where Harry was and both pushed him up against the wall.

"oof" said Harry, as he got pushed into the wall, " What's the meaning of this?" he demanded.

" You better leave our things alone..." said George.

" Your things....What things?" Harry asked confused.

" We know what you were playing at before..." this time it was Fred who said the more confusing thing.

" What're you talking about?... I don't. Know. What. You're. Talking. About" said Harry, careful to emphasise each word.

" You know perfectly well what we're talking about!"

" If you don't stop now ..." started Fred.

"... there'll be trouble... prank trouble!" finished George.

The pair then let Harry go and started to talk to each other about what kind of prank they should do on the Slytherins that night, before heading back to their own dorm room. Harry still had no idea what just happened. After staring at the direction the twins had gone for five minutes Harry finally dismissed the conversation as a new joke the twins had come up with.

It took him only a while to cast the hardening Charm. Though Harry might have had become really good doing the 'Auto Page turning Charm', he did not have nearly as much control over the charm as he would have had liked. The mattress turned very solid. Almost rock hard to his dismay. After reversing the original spell he tried again. This time the mattress was so soft that the top part of it collapsed on the bottom, giving it the appearance of being nothing more than a flat sheet of cloth.

* This is what happens when I try a simple charm and Hermione is upset with me. Women...go figure... Maybe I should tell her tomorrow...err...maybe not*

Even though Harry wanted to tell her at that very second, he decided that it probably made more sense to tell her when she was she was more receptive to Harry. It took Harry almost an hour before he got the wand movement and the series of taps done perfectly. By the time he was finished he was tired and exhausted. He fell to his bed and dreamed of things -(A/N: I'll not be telling you -now.)

The next day Harry woke up a few minutes before six thirty, but he did not go down to the Quidditch field to do some running. After getting ready for classes in record time he, wandered the corridors of schools until he found himself in the great hall. There was no one there but one of the elves. As soon as elf saw Harry it tried to make a run for a door, in panic. Unfortunately the door had other ideas and decided to move two meters to the right exactly when the elf reached the door. The elf slammed into the wall with a loud thud, another followed it when it fell to the floor.

Harry rushed to its side to see if it needed help. He kneeled down next to the elf and asked, " Are you alright?"

The elf did not answer, rather it scrambled onto its legs and hurriedly tried to get through the door again. Unfortunately the door seemed have had enjoyed the last trick it played a bit too much and did it again. There was another sickening thud when the elf hit the wall. Harry had to use a lot of self-control not to laugh at the poor elf. This time the elf did not get up from the floor. Harry went to it and helped it up.

" Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. I'm Harry Potter. What's your name?" If Harry had thought that the elf was scared before, it was even more scared now.

" mm..m.my..y..y n..name be Shabby" 

" Well Shabby... It's nice to meet you" Harry extended his hand for the elf to shake. The elf jumped a step back in horror. Harry quickly took his hand back and asked, " Do you know where Dobby is? I need to talk to him..." 

" He be in the kitchen...."

" Thank you..." he said as Harry started to walk back the secret entrance to the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, Dobby was the first person to meet him. He was wearing what probably passed as the most expensive item of clothing to the elves. It was a dirty old sweater with a million bright coloured patches on it.

" 'Arry Potter came to see me..... no?"

" Yes, Dobby. How's the new job going?... Winky back yet?"

" Fine... She's still missing. I reckon she'll be before tomorrow"

" Ok... I just need to talk to her. When she comes make sure she doesn't leave. Ok?"

" Yes...sir"

" umm... Dobby do you think I could get some food?"

" yes of course...." even before Dobby was finished three elves gathered up enough food for him and handed it on a big tray.

" Thank you very much" said Harry as he managed to somehow hold the large tray and also pat Dobby on the back.

Harry did not stay long enough to see what effect his pat on the back had on the tiny little creature. Dobby's chest swelled to twice its normal size. He started to order around the other elves like there was no tomorrow.

Harry started to eat the food as we went along the corridor. Hermione was still angry with him and Harry had a feeling that this might last a while... to avoid confrontation with her, Harry decided that he would try and stay away from her as possible. It would be difficult since she was in all his classes. Harry also did not want for Ron to have to choose between him and the girl he loved. The logic behind this was the reasoning was that he thought that, if he avoided both of them the problem might actually blow over.

When he finally paid attention to his surroundings, Harry found himself in a very familiar corridor. It was the one that led right into the infirmary. From his frequent visits Harry was no stranger to this part of the castle.

* Since I'm here I might as well visit Neville * thought Harry to himself.

When he visited the room, an odd sight greeted him. Neville was trying gently to get his right hand away from Pansy who was asleep sitting on a chain next to the bed, and her head against the soft mattress. No matter how many times he tried to gently pry open her hands, she did not seemed to let go. When Neville spotted Harry, he mouthed helplessly, " HELP"

Harry made his way quietly into the room and whisper into his ear some instructions. Neville smiled and pretended to go to sleep. Harry went back out into the corridor and walked normally back inside. He gently nudged the sleeping Pansy.

" Pansy..." he said softly. Pansy stirred a bit, before her eyes flew open wide with horror.

* She probably though Neville was awake * thought Harry, as he gently nudged her again.

" It's me... Harry." He whispered. She relaxed a bit, but then started to blush a lot.

" Oh... I fell asleep...." she said, quickly letting go of Neville's hand.

" That's OK. I'll stay with him a while..." he then looked at her. She was still wearing the same clothes that she was wearing the day before. He continued, " ...you probably need to do morning things anyway..."

" Yeah... thanks" she said, as she headed for the corridor.

Once there, she made a run for her common room. Harry had contemplated talking to her in the hallway, but decided that there was no need for that. Frankly he knew he should say something to her, but he did not know what or how to say it. He went over to Neville's bed and sat down on the chair.

Harry whispered, " She's gone"

Neville sat up on his bed instantly as I someone had just pinched his bottom, very hard. " Thanks... I was so scared..."

" I'll just talk with Madam Pomfrey then I'll come back, OK" said Harry as he headed for the small room about ten or twelve beds away. It took Harry very little time to comeback.

Harry grinned at him and said, " You know what just Madam Pomfrey told me..."

" What?" Neville hoped it was not the news that he was well enough to attend the next class with Hagrid.

" Don't worry... you don't have to go to classes today..." he said noticing the tremble in his voice when he had asked the question, " Pansy stayed the entire night with you"

" She did... why?" Neville was no longer concerned that Pansy actually scared him.

" Yesterday she even cried... She thought that she should have had pushed you away from the fireball" Harry did not think that Pansy would like it if Harry told him that she had a crush on him, so he used the excuse he had heard Ron use the day before.

" Class is gonna start in a few minutes... I have to go. Er... do you want rest of the food on the tray" said Harry pointing at a whole lot of food. Neville eagerly nodded and started to dig into the food.

When Harry arrived at the class he was not surprised to see that no one was there yet, not even Hagrid. The only thing there was the large trolley with the cage on top of it. It still had the white cloth on it. The threatening growls and noises from the beast could still be heard. Harry was happy that Hagrid had thought of putting up signs all around the cage that the cage contained a fire-breathing beast. 

Harry did not know, but there were several charms that Hermione had set-up in accordance with Hagrid's wishes to protect younger students from trying to take off the cloth. Harry sat down close to the cage and got out the Wizarding comic book that Ron had given him to read. 

(A/N: You really didn't think that Harry had turned into Hermione with ability woo girls and play a really good game of Quidditch as well... did you. He's still in school. He's supposed to be having fun and this is one of the things kids do)

As minutes wore on, the screaming of the beast subsided a bit, after a while it was totally gone. When Harry first noticed it there was still ten minutes to the class. He also knew the whole class would try and stay away as long as possible after the events of the day before.

Harry was always a bit too curious for his own good, well this time it was actually a good thing that he was. He edged closer to the cage until he thought he heard soft crying. He cast the most powerful shielding charm that he could produce around himself and yanked the cover off the cage.

The beast inside snapped and growled at him. Harry did not know what made the beast not use a fireball, but he was glad it did not. Harry looked at the eyes and saw some white silvery tears flowing down. It astounded Harry by saying, " Thank you"

" You can talk?" he asked. Unknown to him, he was actually speaking in Parseltongue.

" You are the firsssst human" it said as it rubbed it's belly with it's wings.

" Why were you crying?... Do you need something? I can tell them... they'll give it to you.

" My children where going to die..." said the Veloron as more tears escaped it's eyes, " They need light... white bad for my babies..."

" I'll tell the big man. He'll make sure you get more light.... If you promise not to use the fireball anymore, I'm sure Hagrid would let you have lots of light"

" Thankssss. What is your name?" Harry did not think the creature would know the concept of names, but decided to answer the question.

" Harry Potter... Why do you ask?"

" I will name two of my offspring after you"

Harry was quite taken aback by the gesture. 

" Thanks... but there really is no need. I'm happy to help"

" I'm magically bound to do so since I am the female of the speciessss. You have saved my firstbornss. I must repay thisss debt."

" I am honoured that you choose to do so... er ... do you have a name?" asked Harry as he blushed. He had completely forgotten to ask the name of the creature when it asked his.

" My name is Scaly"

" Well Scaly... It was an honour meeting you... Have you decided on any other names?"

" No... I do them asss they are born" the creature then seemed to think for a second and say, " How do you name yours?"

" excuse me" said Harry very confused at the question.

" When a human offspring is born, how do you name them?"

" Ohh..." Harry scratched his head for information on the topic. He had absolutely no idea. After think for a while Harry reached a common sense solution to the question.

" The parents discuss the names before they are born"

" What are parents?"

" Mates" he answered back.

" I miss my mate. Do you have a mate?" Harry blushed at the question. After all he hadn't even got to the stage of dating a girl, much less think about things beyond it.

" I'm much to young for it"

" I choose my mate many moons ago.... Why do those humansss behind you look that way to you?"

Harry's head snapped back. He saw that the entire class was there. They all looked very terrified of what was happening in front of them. Several of them had wands pointed straight at the Veloron. Harry's hearing came back. He heard the anxious talks between the Gryffindor girls and the cheering of Malfoy and a select bunch of his friends. Ron was kneeling over where he had left the comic book on the morning-frosted grass. When he looked up Harry saw him give a venomous look. (* DAMN! I shouldn't have had left the comic on the grass * thought Harry, realising why he was giving him that glance)

Harry quickly extended his shield around the whole of the cage, before blocking Scaly with his own body. The air around Harry almost crackled like electricity from the power that started to emanate from him. It reminded Ron and Hermione the way sometimes Professor Dumbledore looked when he was angry.

Harry's voice went slightly deep, " Put the wands down". It was not a request... it was an order.

Everyone except for Malfoy put their wand down. It looked as though he was getting ready to hit Harry with a curse when Hagrid came out of his hut.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	31. CH 31: early draftREVIEW RR

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 31/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 31  
**Chapter Name:** Incidents, revelations**   
**

Malfoy was one of the few Slytherins who took their wands out when they saw Harry near the serpentine creature. Most of the Gryffindors did the same, but their reason was that they thought Harry was in trouble, but the Slytherins saw it as an opportunity to hit Harry from the back.

The delight that he had for an opportunity to do it in public was shattered when all but him put their wands down on Harry's order. It irked him to no end that even the Slytherins were suddenly taking order from Harry and only a few months ago the dark lord made his return from beyond the grave. It was an insult that he wanted to rectify.

He whispered a curse that he had learned a long time ago. It was light magic, but it was painful none the less. The tip of his wand grew blue when all of a sudden Hagrid who had just come behind him turned him around.

" What the hell do yer thin yer do... aaahhh" Hagrid did not get to finish the sentence when the blue light from Malfoy's wand erupted, sending him flying back a fair few meters through the air. The ground underneath shook when this happened.

Giants were particularly resilient when it came to curses hurled at them, even two of the unforgivable curses ( 'Imperius' and 'Cruciatus' ) had no effect on them. Most light and dark magic needs to be performed by two or three wizards together, to make a spell work properly. Though Hagrid was only halfgiant, he still was able to take the curse in his stride... well the pain part anyway.

Several of the students rushed to where Hagrid was to see if was all right, while Malfoy stood there with panic written all over his face. " Malfoy..." boomed Hagrid's voice across the whole of the school ground, as he got on his feet. The voice was enough for Malfoy to fear for his life. He made a mad dash for the castle. " ... that lil ferret... When I get me hands on 'im I swear I'll skin 'im alive"

Hagrid then turned his focus on to Harry who was still standing in front of the Veloron cage. What Hagrid (who was half giant) saw standing in front of him scared him enough to take two steps back. He could see waves of green emanate from Harry's body and just reach the group of students in front of him. Giants were blessed with an extra ordinary gift. It was not their size or strength, but they could literally see the magical potential inside a person.

Only the yesterday, when Harry was in class, Hagrid had noticed that as always Harry's slight green glow was brighter than the other students. Hermione and Malfoy were the other two on the in the class that had a above average potential, but they were no where close to what Harry had around him self.

The level of brightness reminded him of two very different people. One was the current headmaster of Hogwarts, the other was a man, whose name to this day he could not say, with out flinching at his name. It was the same man who some fifty odd years ago destroyed his father's dream of seeing his halfgiant son become a wizard. The other man was Tom Riddle also known as Lord Voldemort.

When the brightness suddenly flickered away he was surprised. Even Professor Dumbledore, was never able to return to his original brightness so soon. It had two possible reasons. Either Harry was very strong or he was too weak to sustain his magical potential.

Hagrid suspected that Harry was too weak to sustain it, but he hoped like hell that Harry was actually so strong that he could reduces magical potential very easily. He made a mental note to talk to him later about his. Finally recovering from his shock he said, " Ye OK there 'Arry?"

" Yes!" Harry yelled back much to Hagrid's relief.

But it really was a lie as Harry could barely stay in the position that his body was in. He probably would have had fell to the ground right after his magical potential went down, had it not been for Scaly, who had seen her benefactor slowly weakening in her defence.

She grabbed his cloak from the back with her tail and held him in place. It was not a sense of self preservation that made her do this. It was simply because she sensed that Harry did not want to show weakness. None of the other students dared get any closer to Harry then they already were. They were afraid that the fire breathing beast would harm them. Hagrid slowly made his way to the front of the class. Harry whispered to Scaly, " You can let  
go no... I think I'm fine. Thanks."

" No worriesssss...." she replied back.

" Hagrid..." said Harry when he was close enough.  
" ... what?" he asked gently.  
" Don't put the cloth back on again.... It was cold and the babies they were gonna die... I had to take it them offfffff......."

Harry did not get to finish what he had wanted to say as his speech slurred and then suddenly he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Across the school grounds and in the castle somewhere near his office, Professor Dumbledore came to a full stop before a door. He turned to the west side of the Castle. He knew what was happening to Harry and he knew the benefits it would bring the light side in the upcoming war with Voldemort and his minions. He murmured in a foreboding tone that no one was there to listen to, " So it has finally begun..."

Far from the castle in a place where few dare to travel, Lord Voldemort stopped in the middle of the imperious curse that he was performing on a helpless muggle man. The man was in mid air doing a back flip, when he suddenly regained control of his own body. He fell to the stone floor and with a loud crack broke several of his bones.

" So he has finally started his journey..." said Voldemort.

Someone in his place would have been very afraid of what was happening, but he was positively thrilled. He knew that the prophesised battle is another three years away and there'll be only one victor. He made his first mistake as Lord Voldemort when he fought the prophecy and went after the Potters. He had tipped the scale in favour of the boy then and now he was well protected.

He had ordered his minions that if they had an opportunity to kill Potter not to do it. It was because the prophecy did not say whether the heir of Merlin win or not in his final battle. He had no intention of giving him another opportunity to tip the scales more in favour with the light side. He knew that the only hope he had of defeating Harry was to gain his former powers and that is only possible by creating chaos to mask what he was really doing.

He looked at the muggle man on the floor whimpering... but careful not to make too much noise as he did not want to die soon. Voldemort did not even think as he uttered the words, "Avada Kedavra". The room was illuminated with a bright green light for a split second as the spark impacted on the man on the floor. Killing him, where he was.

Two men in cloak quickly came to where the dead muggle was and dragged him away. A strong and confident man with a silver hand emerged from the shadows to face his master. He went on his hands and knees and awaited a signal. " Rise... Wormtail.... What news do you bring from the giants...." came the signal.

  
" They had an emissary already my lord.... the grounds keeper from Hogwarts"  
" I know of him... they have allied them selves with Dumbledore?"  
" Yes my lord... what is it that you wish me to do?...."  
" What did you do them?"  
" I took my wards and destroyed their village... we killed three hundred of the  
giants.... they are a threat no more...." he replied.  
" Good... you'll be rewarded" he hisses.  
" I seek no reward other than to please you my lord...." Voldemort gave a dry laugh at this.

Back in the castle...

Neville was sleeping peacefully on the bed thinking of things he would like to do to Professor Snape if he was allowed to. Things included Neville being every thing from a barber ("accidentally killing him while he was sitting on the chair") to being a wild-beast removal person (Snape getting attacked by a supposedly "escaped" beast).... *maybe just something like that Veloron thingy...

His daydreams were interrupted when Hagrid brought in Harry's unconscious body. It was only a few minutes ago that Harry had visited him, and he seemed very well back then. Him suddenly becoming sick, made Neville worry about his own health. Hagrid put Harry down on the closest bed. Several students in the same class followed him in.

" Gerr out all yer..." Hagrid said in his booming voice. All the girls promptly left the room, the guys were a bit more slow but were prompt none the less. Hagrid saw that Ron and Hermione did not leave and as much as it pained him to do so, he did not think it was good of either Ron or Hermione to see what was going to happen to him next. He looked at the pair and said, " I said everyone!"

" But..." started to say Ron, but stopped when Hermione started to pull him back.

" We should go.. We'll only get in there way and Harry might..." she paused as a lump got caught in his throat, " ... something bad might happen to him..." Ron gave up trying to stay.

After they left Hagrid, looked at Neville and said, " Ye got yer wand?" Neville nodded. " Well get it out... if any one tries to get past yer... blast...er.... Ye know how to do a body-binding charm right?..."

" Yes..." said Neville. Not many people knew it but that was the only spell in charms he could do flawlessly. After the end of his first year, he studied that specific curse very well. Over the course of the last three years he had become very good at it, because of his constant practice.

" Lock the door after I leave... Professor Dumbledore will open it when he come" with that he closed the door behind him and Neville locked the door from inside. He sat down on the bed next Harry's and waited patiently. He was a bit afraid of the mob (he could here their loud talk) outside.

About five minutes when Professor Dumbledore had come to a stand still in front of the door, he waited patiently for what was to come next. Sure enough at that very moment, Hagrid appeared at the closest corridor to where he was standing. He looked tired and was huffing and puffing when he reached the headmaster. 

" Professor... 'Arry... he fainted..."  
" I know... I assume you've put him in his hospital wing?" it was not a question since Hagrid knew the professor already knew the answer to that question already. He simply nodded.  
" ... professor..." Hagrid was going to ask the headmaster a question but was interrupted in the middle. 

" I know you've many questions... follow me...." the headmaster did not head for his office instead started to head for the Hospital wing. Hagrid saw the professor do something with his wand, when a bright white light exploded for a fraction of a second, over them. Suddenly all the student's walking past them made no noise what so ever. Hagrid saw them open their mouth, but nothing came out.

Realising it was some kind of advanced privacy spell he said nothing about it. After about a minute of silence, the professor spoke. " I assume from you silence you've had experience with something of this sort... Ms. Granger perhaps."  
" yes" Replied Hagrid.  
" You saw him emanate... didn't you?"  
Hagrid could only nod in response. Even though the headmaster was actually walking in front of Hagrid, he reacted as if he saw Hagrid nod. " I'm sorry... I should have had told you before..."

" It's the same as I saw with To..." he stopped himself. "... HIM. Is the same going to happen to him?"

" In a way...." he turned his head back to smile at the half giant "... he'll go through it faster... It's a good thing he's going through it here. I can look after him."

" HE turned evil right after that" said Hagrid meaning about how Lord Voldemort became evil after going through the same thing Harry was going through.

" He was a lost soul long before this happened to him and Harry..." his voice held pride as he said the rest of the line, " Well he's Harry. Too much good in him to be tempted to abuse it... I suspect he'd rather want to hide this fact from everyone... He won't change mentally. He's too strong for that. That's why Voldemort wants to kill him...."

It finally made sense to Hagrid why Voldemort had been after Harry from the time he was born. If Harry was weak minded like Tom had been then the transformation would have had corrupted him over the years and eventually Harry would have had joined the dark side. But since Harry was stronger willed; he was a threat to Voldemort's plan for world domination.

" Is that why..." he did need to finish his question when he got the answer.  
" Yes" it was an ominous answer.  
" Will you tell him?..."  
" No... not yet...."  
" Why?" asked Hagrid curious.  
" He's not ready yet... he has to know himself before I can give his answer to that question.... Hagrid, I know you know the reasons for Harry's life... If you don't want history to repeat then..."

" I want you to do the memory charm on me Professor... I don't think I can stop myself if he asks...."  
" I'm sorry Hagrid... but he'll see it. If you don't say anything.... he won't know."  
" You're trusting me to keep this a secret..."  
" No... I'm telling you if you care about Harry, forget what you saw today"

" I will... for Lily's sake... for James and most of all Harry's sake, I'll forget what I know" This time Hagrid decided was not going to be like the first year with Harry. Every sentence involving Harry, Lily and James would go though his brain several times before he'd let it out of his mind.

(A/N: Do you people know what I'm talking about?... It's cryptic.. it's a  
mystery and you'll know more as time passes.)

Voldemort knew why his followers followed him. None of his followers were the master happy types. There was only one that he died the year before. Barty Crouch Jr. He was almost like a son to him... if he was never able to recover his mortal body, he would have had made that boy his heir. Even if he did, he would have made that boy his other arm after the LeStranges as his right. All his other servants had a bigger master than him. It was greed. They all wanted power, fame, or glory and they would do almost anything to get it. That is why they followed him.

" You and I both know that's not true...." he hissed at the man crouching before him, ".... But I'll punish you later since your reward out weighs the reason for your punishment now..."

" What do you wish of me?... my lord" breathing a sigh of relief.

" You'll lead the attack on the muggle born children of Hogwarts end of the year..."

Lucius Malfoy emerged from the shadows and said in an outraged tone of voice said, " My lord... you promised me...." he didn't get to finish the sentence when a Crucious curse went through his body. There was not incantation or anything of that sort heard by anyone by the caster himself. 

Severus Snape.

" Do not interrupt the lord again..." he said as he released Lucius from the forbidden spell.

" Ahhhh... What news do you bring of Harry Potter?...." his red eyes glowed as he said this.

Ginny's charms teacher was very impressed with her spell to change the colour of the pig that was in front of the class. She was the only person had got the charm right on the first go, but it had exhausted her. He asked Professor Flitwick for permission to go out side the class to get some fresh air. Just she stepped out of the room...(what do you think happened)... she collided with someone moving very fast. The force of the blow sent along the corridor a few meters before friction from the floor brought her to a halt.

" Awww..." said Ginny to look up to see who was her assailant. It turned out to be a hyperventilating Dean Thomas.  
" Sorry... no time... got to go" said Dean and he made a run for the hospital wing. He didn't even stop to see if Ginny was alright. She started to grumble to herself about rude boys when someone she didn't know came over to where she was.He extended his hand and said, " Here... let me help you."

" ...er..thanks..." she said as she got off the floor, with the help of the sandy haired boy. He had a mop of hair much like Harry's though his were ruffled because it was evident that something big was going on out side the class. " What's you name?...er... if you don't mind me asking?"

She could have had sworn she saw him blush, but dismissed the thought since someone actually blushing over her was a concept totally unknown to her. Even Collin her current "not-my-boy-friend" did no such thing. She sometimes thought that Collin was a bit too involved with Harry for his own good, but being close to him also allowed her access to some really good photos of the person she was head over heels for. Harry.

" Ginny..." she paused as she blurted out her name then realised she had forgotten her last name, " Ginny Weasley"  
" Well Ginny Weasley..." he beamed a smile at her as though he approved of her name, " I'm Terry Boot. You're a fourth year aren't you?"  
" Yeah..." she said amazed, " How did you know?"  
" errr... I have to go... Harry Potter's been injured..." he said as he was about to leave. She quickly grabbed his hand before he could fully turn away from her.  
" What's happened to him?" she asked. Her voice was loud and it was frightening enough to scare Terry who was a year older to say, " He fell unconscious...." 

Ginny didn't look happy at the news and he thought she was going to hit him really badly. A bit frightened, he tried to get away from her. " Where is he?" she asked.

" Hos....Hospital...." he didn't get to finish the race when Ginny did a mad dash for the Hospital wing. 

When Snape was in school wanted more than anything to get acceptance from Professor Dumbledore. He worked hard trying to get James and his band of Marauders to get expelled because of the pranks that they pulled. Professor Dumbledore knew of the activities of the James and his gang, but did nothing to discourage them, only increasing Snape's hatred for James.

James also was much better than him, academically. Always coming second to James in every thing including to one girl that he thought he loved was something he did not want to see. When that happened he latched on to the one person that recognised his brilliance. That person was Lord Voldemort. Even though he was naive in the beginning about Lord Voldemort's need for him, he soon realised that Lord Voldemort did not really like him the way he wanted Professor Dumbledore to like him, rather he was just one of his tools.

Realising that he set out to correct mistakes of his past... one of the very first things he did was to give warning to James and Lily of the danger to their lives. Even after the warning Snape never felt that he had done enough to prevent their death. That is why he helped Harry in his first year against Professor Quirrell/Voldemort.

It was a risk... a grave risk for him to come back to the dark lords side. The dark lord knew of his betrayal, and knew that he was working as a double agent. But this allowed him information from Professor Dumbledore's side (real or fictional) and in return he fed Snape information, some real others not. But that did not mean that Voldemort was going to spare Snape from the Crucious curse... not when he had to endure so much for so long.

" I have only one news my lord... He's sick. If you wish, I will poison him" said Snape in a toneless voice, almost as if he was an automaton (robot). He did not mean it and both he and Voldemort knew it. Voldemort was happy that finally his enemy was becoming visible... He laughed in his high pitched voice, sending shivers through all the death eaters present in the dark, damp and cold room.

" I know of the his "sickness" as you call it...." he paused. His eyes glowed more red as he spoke, " you can't poison him..

Voldemort stopped himself from saying that no poison could kill Harry anymore, as he knew that might tempt his followers to remove him. Together they were a lot stronger than he was right now.

"... I want to kill him myself. Remember that. No one tries to kill him other than me."

" I apologise My lord..."

" Shut up. Severus. I grow tired of you... If you do not want me to kill you right now... leave."

" Yes my lord" Snape did not dare get up from where he was. With a small pop he was gone.

Voldemort turned his eyes on Wormtail, who was still kneeling before his master and said, " Wormtail...."

" Yes my lord..."

" I want you to go to Russia... do you know what you have to do there..." he hissed.

" ... I think so, master.... but I dare not presume to know what you are thinking my lord."

" ... There is a place near Siberia... you know what to get from there?" 

" Yes my lord" he replied

" Take 20 of the new recruits with you... they haven't tasted death yet. They need to get used to it"

" By your order my lord..." said Wormtail as he got up to leave. Half way out of the chamber he heard his master utter the word " Crucio" and his body wracked with pain as every nerve ending in his body felt as though they were on fire. He was hit with a Crucious curse.

" This was only a taste of what is waiting for you if you fail..."

He knew it would take it would take years to reach his true level again. It was his punishment for tampering with fate, that he was forced to live so long with out a body. It had been foretold long before that Harry and Voldemort were to face off each other at the age of fourteen... to the victor would go the world. For a long time until another evil or force of good comes up.

Voldemort killed one Centaur to gain that particular bit of prophecy a long time, ago and only a few days ago he killed another gaining another. This one was even murkier than the one before. This one predicted that Harry and Voldemort would fight a battle a day in three years time. 

When and where could not be told from the stars, but it was to take place when Harry was a full grown Wizard. For interfering with the prophecies, he was deprived of his body for over a decade and now that he had it back he dared not defy the prophecies of the Centaurs again. For this time without his experimentation with immortality he would certainly die.

When Wormtail left the room, Voldemort focused his gaze upon the shivering body of Lucius Malfoy. " Lucius... It was a good thing that Severus did what he did. Had he not done that You would have been killed... no... I life worse than death. More like the ones the Long Bottoms went through..."

" I apologise master..."

" I care not for them... I want you to send messages to the Dementors in Azkaban. They'll join us soon enough. I want you to organise their revolt. It won't take you time to take time organise that, so leave that for now. Organise a group of thirty Death Eaters to hunt down the traitorous scum... Karakauff.

" As you wish..."  
" I won't show you any mercy, if you fail..."

****

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
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	32. CH 32: Plans, Parvati & Preconceptions

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" 32/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 32  
**Chapter Name:** Plans, Parvati & Preconceptions

Neville was glad, that when the door opened it was Professor Dumbledore. If it had been anyone else he was not sure if he would have had been able to keep the promise he made to Hagrid. The wise wizard's eyes held pride as he looked over at Neville. The headmaster made his way to Harry's bed, but mad a stop to see Neville first, while Hagrid lock the door behind them. Whatever Neville was expecting what happened next was not it.

" How are you doing, Neville?" said Professor Dumbledore as he gently ruffled Neville's hair.

" Fine... sir" he replied, pleased with himself for getting some affection from a member of staff other than Professor Sprout and this was the headmaster no less.

" Thank you Neville for looking after Harry"

" I...it wwa..was my pleasure sir" stuttered Neville. This was the first time in his life he was stuttering, not because he was afraid, but was overcome with feelings that he had no names for.

" You're well enough to go back..." Professor Dumbledore either paused or was interrupted in mid sentence (Neville was not sure), when the door to the room burst open and a loud noise echoed throughout the corridors.

On the other side of the door stood and angry looking Madam Pomfrey, her face flustered. She was rather angry to have to have had heard that there was a patient in the hospital wing and no one thought to get her, to top that off she had to hear it from a terrified looking Ravenclaw. " Where is he?" she demanded. Her voice embodied something that frightened, even Hagrid, who was atleast five feet taller than her. Professor Dumbledore didn't flinch. 

The Professor then turned to Neville."... go out into the hallway and join rest of the classes." Neville nodded and ran out past the angry woman at the door.

Very soon after, as Neville went outside the hospital room, three pairs of hands quickly plucked him out of the small crowd. The hands belonged to three people very close to Harry. They were Hermione, Ron and Ginny.

" How's he doing?" asked Ron.

" Is he OK?", added Hermione.

" Is he awake yet?" asked Ginny.

" Hold on a sec... will you?..." said Neville.

" Well?" asked Hermione folding her hands in front of her and standing on one foot while tapping the ground with the other.

" He's still unconscious" said Neville, much to the three of his interrogators' dismay.

" Well lets go..." said Hermione, as she reluctantly started to move to where her next class was due to be held, "...well come on..." she said to Ron.

As much of Hermione quickly giving up was a surprise to Ron, he thought he saw her point in giving up. It was unlikely that Harry would wake up soon, and if he did it would be atleast a day before Madam Pomfrey would let anyone into the hospital wing. But Hermione had not really given up. In fact she was cooking up a plan to go see Harry that very night. Alone.

Hermione wanted to talk to Harry alone, even if he was going to be unconscious. She did not want Ron present there because Ron had a tendency to get jealous. Hermione was sure she would cry, and she was sure that Ron would see it as he affection for Harry. This year more than anything else, Hermione knew, it was important for both Ron and her to be by his side. Anything that might disrupt that friendship could have dire consequences for Harry, and as a friend she did not think she would be able to bear that pain in her.

" I didn't think you'd give up so soon," said Ron as they headed for their next class, Neville next to him, "... I mean it's so unlike you..."

She leaned closer and lied to Ron with a straight face, " I don't want to talk about that git!"

" Okay... It's just that you were as concerned about him as me..." said Ron with a look of confusion on his face.

* He looks cute when he's confused * thought Hermione as she replied, " Well... I changed my mind...anyway... you want to go to the Library to do some research for History of Magic Class"

Ron didn't have to think about the question. Even though it would have been a great opportunity to get close to Hermione, he didn't really want to do that kind of study in the library with her. 

He grabbed Neville and said, " No...Sorry! I can't! I promised Neville here I was going to help him practice for Quidditch trials."

" I said that!" Neville scratched his head.

" Yes you did. Remember..." went on Ron.

Hermione could see that Ron was lying, but this turn of event was going to fit in with her plan perfectly. Just to make it easy, " Oh... I need to go back to the common room. I'll be a while in there... where'll you two be when you're doing your practice. If I finish a bit early... may be I'll watch you guys."

Ron's smug grin that he had just pulled one past Hermione wiped away. 

* Damn! Now I really have to help Neville... but then again I really needed to train... *, he thought.

"...er we'll be in the Quidditch field..."

" Don't you need your brooms?" she asked hoping they would say no.

" No... we'll be using the school ones... er... if we don't get going we'll have to stop before we start"

Ron grabbed Neville's arm and then broke into a run.

Hermione herself broke into a run, but not in the direction that she was supposed to. She headed back to the common room. All the boys and girls other than Ron, Neville and Hermione had decided to stay there. So there was no chance of her getting caught doing what she wanted to. She didn't stop long enough for the fat lady to complain about how the Gryffindor girls now a day were so rude.

She ran straight into the Harry's dorm room and went to where she knew Harry had hid invisibility cloak and the Marauders map. She knew that she had very little time so she quickly folded the brown piece of parchment in a pocket in her cloak and wrapped herself in the invisibility cloak. It was a good thing she did, since at that very moment Dean and Seamus came into the room.

They stood on the threshold of the door talking.

" You know the end of term ball..." said Seamus.

" There's one?" asked Dean incredulous.

" Of course there is... my brother told me about it last year... who would you take? Out of anyone..." he asked.

" The head-girl..." said Dean dreamily, before he went totally serious, "...but more realistically... I like Parvati"

" Parvati! Really?" Seamus raised one of eyebrows.

" Yes!" it looked as though someone had insulted Dean, " She's smart and pretty" Dean's brown skin made it hard to see it but he was blushing.

" Hey! Don't get your undies in a bunch" he said, putting up his hands to stop any physical assault that might follow, " Sorry! I didn't think you liked her...er...in that way..."

"...okay... If you think Parvati is not nice then who do you wanna take?"

" if I could take anyone, it'd be Cho Chang that seeker for Ravenclaw....er.... we both know she's not in our league... I have my mind set on a Hufflepuff girl... I'm asking her after charms"

" You're asking someone this early? Why?"

" Remember last year..." Remember what?

" I waited a long time to ask her, by the time I got my nerve up, she was already going with someone else. I almost didn't get a date for the ball..."

* Merlin! All boys are the same *, thought Hermione, remembering that Harry did the same thing the year before. She felt a bit bad listening in on their conversation, but she had to stay where she was, if she wanted a quick escape.

"... so who is it?" asked Dean Thomas.

Seamus had light skin and when he blushed, his head looked more like a tomato. " er.. Hannah... Hannah Abbott."

" Umm... she's ok... who do you think Neville is going with. Ginny again?"

" I don't think She's going to make that mistake again..." snorted out Seamus amongst his laughter. Hermione felt bad for Neville knowing that he probably would not get a date.

" I think a girl likes him already...." said Dean in a mysterious voice. Hermione's ear pricked up, even though she was trying not to listen to them a second ago.

" Who? ..." Seamus became very curious when he heard that bit of information. It was hard for him to believe that a girl would actually like Neville. Well except for Hermione, who had been helping him, get along in his classes, but there was nothing there. Every one could tell by the way Hermione and Ron always fought that they were meant for each other. Even though this was the case, Seamus ventured forth a guess, though he knew it was wrong, "... Hermione?"

Hermione took a step back. She had no idea that someone would think that she had romantic interest in Neville. She had to restrain herself, from talking back to the two boys to make it known that she was not in anyway or shape was attracted to him.

" Hermione.... you're joking right?" said Dean.

" ... so you think she has a thing for Ron as well..."

Dean nodded. " So does half the school. The way they fight... it's so obvious"

Hermione took so many steps back that, any more she would not have heard rest of the conversation. * They Know! *

" ...so who is it?"

" You know that okay looking Slytherin girls that used to hang around Malfoy..." said Dean, before he got interrupted.

" No kidding..." Seamus' his hand went up to cover his mouth, " Pansy..."

" I know... it's kind of hard to believe that Malfoy's ex-girlfriend has a thing for Neville..."

Seamus started to stammer " bu.... but..."

" I know she's probably the best looking Slytherin girl in her year.... That's not saying much... but that's pretty good for Neville"

" Yeah..." Seamus looked uncertainly at his broom on the other side of the room. " You think we should bother to enter the tryout... I mean Ron's gonna be in it and his whole family except for Percy was in the Quidditch team... he's bound to be good and I hear Harry is the co-captain. He's bound to get into the team."

" You think Harry would do that..."

" He might... but then again we thought he put his name in the goblet as well didn't we. Who would have had guessed it was a trap for him..."

" Yeah... when Harry's concerned, you can't be sure of anything..." Seamus moved out of the doorframe and started to move to where his broom was. Dean already had his.

When they both stopped blocking her exit path, Hermione made a quick run for the door. Once safely away from dorm room for the boys, she headed straight for her own room. There she took out all of her stuff from the bottom drawer of her closet door and put the invisibility cloak in there. She then covered it up with all her clothes that were originally there. 

Glad that her plan was a success, she headed merrily down to the Quidditch field to watch Ron and Neville practice... * well watch Ron anyway *, thought Hermione as a small blush appeared in her face. It still amazed her that according to Seamus and Dean, half the school suspected that they had a thing for each other. * The other half must think I have a crush on Harry... remembering all the people the year before had asked her if she was his girlfriend. 

* Oh well... I can't really complain... Both of them are quite good looking, and both are my best friend... there's bound to be some confusion. Good thing I have my crush chosen already. Ron...*, rest of her thoughts were too complicated to be explained in here, "... Oh! I just love that read hair..." suddenly she said it out loud. It was a good thing that no one was there. Otherwise it would have had been a disaster.

When Neville had left the room, in the castle where Harry was laying unconscious, Professor Dumbledore was getting ready to do something quite drastic to revive him. He had not done this type of advanced ancient magic for a long time, and the only other time he had done it was when he faced off Grindelwald. 

" Hagrid? Could you do something for me?"

" Yes professor, what is it that ya want me to do?"

" I want you and Madam Pomfrey to go out of the room..." Madam Pomfrey looked like she was going to start an argument, but something inside her made her stop. "...Clear both sides of the corridor and make sure you post the head boy and girl on each side of the corridor. No matter what you hear or see, don't try to come into the room."

Hagrid did not need to be told, twice. He knew Professor Dumbledore knew, what he was doing, but the comment bout no coming into the room was one that disturbed him.

" Albus, what're you going to do?" asked madam Pomfrey.

" Something that'll hurt Harry a lot...." he said very slowly.

In the Quidditch field, Parvati Patil was looking at all the boys on their brooms, naked from waist up. She was so deeply engrossed in her observations, she did not notice Hermione, sit down next to her. Ron, Neville, Dean, Seamus and a few of the Ravenclaws were all practicing together. From what Hermione saw, Ron had about as much chance in getting into the keeper position, as anyone else. They were all mediocre in terms of talent. Though her knowledge of Quidditch only extended as far as watching the matches that Harry played in. 

" How long have you been watching them?" Hermione asked

" ...Umm...almost from the beginning...." the suddenly she shouted to the boys, " Seeker missile at 3 o'clock.....Ouch... that must have hurt." She turned back to Hermione and said, " seeker missile is not used that often cause it stops the seeker from what he is supposed to do.... oh look it's Ron's turn now..."

After that every time one of the boys would miss, Parvati next to her would pipe up and tell Hermione what they did wrong. This was a new side to Parvati that Hermione never known before, but then again they were never really friends to begin with.

"... see how Ron missed the last one, that's because he kept his eyes on only the front two chasers. The third one was moving much slower so he did not pay any attention to that one... classic beginners mistake."

A few minutes later... " Oh see that one that Neville just missed... this one was a bit different from the one before, this strategy only works if the other one happened before. The three of the chasers start moving fast and one of the beaters join in, when they separate the chaser pretends to he the go after one of the Quaffle. The beater hides his stick and the keeper thinks that the beater is going to receive the ball... and then bam. One of the chasers put it through the hole.... Who do you think is going to be next?" asked Parvati to Hermione, whose mouth was wide open.

" What?... do I have something in my teeth?" asked Parvati starting to use on of her fingers to see if anything was stinging out in there.

" er... no. You know a lot about this keeping thing. I just didn't think you'd be interested in Quidditch, what with ...er..." Hermione stopped fearing that she might upset Parvati by the rest of the sentence.

" ...you mean not just focused on my hair and Harry?"

Hermione blushed because Parvati had said what she was thinking about.

" ...Urmm...well, yeah. You and Lavender are always talking all night long about favourite makeup stuff and which boy scores what on that chart of yours."

" Well... growing up in a Quidditch mad family with eight brothers you pick up a lot of things. The only person who is not interested in Quidditch in my family is Padma."

" You seem to know a lot about being a keeper. Are you going to try out?"

" Me?" Parvati reacted to the question, the same way she would have had reacted to a date with the dark lord himself. Utter amazement.

" Why not?... I've seen you on a broom, you're not afraid. You seem to know a lot more about what to look out for as a keeper than any of the boys up there."

" I can't... I'm a girl"

" What does that have to do with anything?" it looked to Hermione, as though Parvati thought the selectors would be biased against another female in the team. "... There's three girls in the team already and one of them is the Captain."

" None of them have a boyfriend do they?" said Parvati.

" Boys love girls who play Quidditch" said Hermione. It was true, sometimes she wished she was interested in the game so she could talk to Harry or Ron when they started to talk about the game.

" ...No. No. No." Parvati was quite adamant, " Boys love girls who know lots about Quidditch. They don't like the ones that can play better than themselves."

" You really believe that?"

" I have to, I can play better than three of my older brothers, and I still get picked after Padma who doesn't like the game at all."

" Oh... I'm sorry... but I'm sure the boys here are different" said Hermione, trying to encourage Parvati to take part. She didn't want the house to loose the Quidditch cup because they had the second best keeper. She didn't know if Parvati was any good, but decided is she knows this much she was bound to be good. 

There had been two blows already in the morning. One was the announcement that Professor Snape took great pleasure in delivering. Lee Jordan had been removed as the commentator for the Quidditch games because of his 'bias' against the Slytherins. Since the commentator could only be removed at the beginning of the season, he took his case to the board of Governors and got them with the influence of Lucius Malfoy to get rid of him.

The second had come only minutes ago, when Harry fell unconscious in front of the whole class. This is something the house did not need. 

"...don't you want Gryffindors to win the Quidditch cup"

" I do..." Parvati's head hung low, " but I don't want to become unpopular with the boys..."

" So you think becoming a ditzy girl, would impress them?" retorted Hermione.

" Lavender gets lots of attention and so does Hanna Abbott from Hufflepuff... anyway... shouldn't you be in the library?" teased Parvati.

Hermione got slightly miffed at Parvati for her crack, before realising that Parvati must have had felt the same way when people assume, just because she was friends with Lavender she is a ditzy girl.

"Okay... I get the point. I shouldn't think that way about you if I don't want others to think the same way about me. Right?"

" Yep. Let's start over, without all the wrong idea about the other person."

" In that case... I'm Hermione Granger. What is your name?" she said, holding out her hand. Parvati took her hand shook it. " I'm Parvati Patil. Nice to meet you too."

Ginny protested more than anyone else when Hagrid and rest of the Gryffindors and quite a number of other students were pushed back out of the room. She was muttering to herself, when she collided with the sandy haired boy again. 

" Ohh, Sorr..." started Terry, but stopped when he saw who had bumped into.

" I'm soorr.." the same happened to Ginny too.

" You!" said Terry, before deciding that Ginny was trouble and made a run in the opposite direction, leaving Ginny quite confused. She had no idea what she had done to cause that reaction in the boy, so she went back thinking of ways to sneak back into the Hospital wing that night. * I just wish I had a invisibility cloak * thought Ginny, as she made her way back to her charms class, of which there was only a few minutes left.

" Mr. Weasley," cried Professor Flitwick, " What is it that you had to do that took that long?"

" Oh.... I'm sorry professor. I heard Harry Potter was in the hospital wing (*gasps* from the classmates), so I ran th..." Ginny did not get to finish as Professor Flitwick interrupted her.

" Potter...did you say?" Ginny nodded, " What happened to him?"

" He fell unconscious..."

Professor Flitwick looked unsettled.

" Do you know why?" he asked her slowly and softly, as though he was asking something very personal.

" Hermione, told me she thinks Harry used a very strong shielding charm for a long time.... We don't know for sure because Madam Pomfrey and Hagrid close off the hospital wing"

As time went on more and more in the Charms class, sitting next to a person she would probably never enjoy sitting, Hermione kept feeling bad about how she had treated Harry for the last two days. She should have had been proud of Harry, but instead she was angry with him. Parvati was a very good listener when it came to other people's problems. She had, in a few minutes, put reasons behind her actions. Though Parvati had very little information to go on and it happened shortly after they had shook hands to get rid of any old ideas they had about the other person. 

" You don't find it odd that Harry Potter would suddenly start to study?" asked Hermione.

" No. Not after what happened last year. I know I would have been dead if it was me who was taken to the dark lord. If I survived then I would do everything in my power to get strong... and it seems without being allowed to do magic over the holidays, he did the only thing he could. Learn from books. We both would have had done the same in the same position."

Hermione could only nod at those sentences. Those sentences were already in her mind, she just needed to hear them from someone else.

" I think you reacted that way because you were always the brainy one in the group, I still remember what Professor Trelawney said about what you three did in your first year. You were the one who did the logical stuff with the potions..."

Inwardly Hermione knew that Professor Trelawney got her information by asking the other professors, but did not say anything since Parvati had great respect for her. 

" ... so when Harry finally beat you in something you got really angry. Not because he beat you, but because now you think he has no need for you. In a way you think you're unworthy of his friendship now that he got more than you. But..." Parvati beamed at Hermione, " ...you know that even if he doesn't need your talents he needs your friendship." 

After she finished Hermione looked at Parvati with respect that she gave only to two other female teachers. They were Professor McGonagall and Professor Vector. Very soon after that, the two girls headed for the 

A small explosion next to her brought Hermione out of her daze. Parvati had managed to get her shimmering charm to short-circuit. Hermione was not sure, but something in the smile she gave to Hermione, made her think it was a deliberate act to cause some trouble in the class. Hermione just gave her a secretive smile back.

Lavender next to Parvati was very angry with Parvati, for letting bossy Hermione enter their clique. After all she was the one that had insulted her beloved Professor Trelawney, before leaving the Divination class forever. Parvati was quick to point out that three fifth year girls going to Hogsmede without boys, was not as bad as just one or two of them going together.

Though Hermione did not really think that she would be left alone, as Harry would always make her tag along to where ever he went for fun, she played along for Parvati's sakes, who seemed determined to get her new friend get along with her long time one. Over the next few days Hermione became very good friends with both Parvati and Lavender, as Lavender learned not to take what Hermione say about Professor Trelawney seriously and Hermione learned to keep her thought regarding Professor Trelawney as quite as possible.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
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	33. CH 33: Ancient Magicsorry Very short cha...

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 33/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 33  
**Chapter Name:** Ancient Magic

One of the hardest things that Alicia had to do in her whole life was to hear the screaming coming from the room where Professor Dumbledore was with the unconscious body of Harry. She had to force herself to stay where she was, keeping the silencing charms replenished on one of the two doors that lead into the hospital wing. Very soon after she had cast her spell, as ordered by Madam Pomfrey, the screaming started. That had been well over three hours ago...but I'm getting ahead of myself... It started right after Hagrid and Madam Pomfrey left the room...

~~

" Is he all right?" asked someone from the back of the small, but growing crowd.

" Yeah... when will he be back in classes?"

" What happened?"

" Did the snake thing bite him" asked Parvati.

" Is he feeling better?"

" Is..." it went on for a whole minute as they all asked Hagrid and Madam Pomfrey about Harry.

" QUITE DOWN!" bellowed Hagrid, finally having had enough of the questions.

" Children..."said Madam Pomfrey in her softest voice, " We need the corridor cleared...now! It's an emergency"

" But we want to stay" said Ginny, who looked like the ringleader of the whole of the crowd, when they all nodded behind her.

" I'm sorry ter do this Ginny.... but its got to be done."

" But..." she protested

" Not buts, young lady" came the harsh voice of Madam Pomfrey, but it softened when she saw Ginny's hurt face, " It's going to be all right, child. Professor Dumbledore is looking after him, but we need the corridors cleared." Said Madam Pomfrey.

" Everyone out!" yelled Hagrid, but this time there were no objections.

After all the children were gone, Hagrid and Madam Pomfrey had their discussion.

" I'll go and look for the head boy and girl" said Madam Pomfrey, " while you keep and eye on the doors."

" Hurry back soon..."

" I will..." she said going out of the exit, leading to where the staff offices were. She needed to find the register to look up where the head boy and girls were.

A few minutes later, inside the closed room, Professor Dumbledore was deep in thought as he paced the small distance to the next bed, when he sensed the arrival of the two students that he had been expecting. He could almost imagine what they were talking about, but that came from over sixty yeas of teaching at Hogwarts, not one of his many powers.

" It seems we have to start..."

He waved the wand th Harry's bed and with a small flash the beds in the room were gone, though Harry floated in mid-air, with his arms draping by his side. He waved his wand again, this time four glass spheres appeared. 

* Now the elements...* he thought to himself.

+++++++ Something very Important ++++++++

You might have noticed that Professor Dumbledore says in his letter headings that he is the chief Warlock.... Well Warlocks are elemental wizards and witches. Their powers are specific to one element. Dumbledore had the forbidden one. Only he has mastered it so far. 

I'm telling this for the benefit of those who do not know this

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

He pointed his wand at the one that was by his left leg, and said, " Elos es domine echos maran Incendio", making something that looked like fire, appeared inside the sphere with a small bright flash. He tapped the top of the sphere and a stream of fire like rope connected with Professor Dumbledore's wand. Then Professor Dumbledore connected the streams to Harry's body bay tapping the end on Harry's chest.

He went to the other sphere near Harry's leg and did something similar, though the incantation was slightly different, " Elos es domine echos maran Aquae". This time water appeared inside the sphere. Professor Dumbledore did the same thing on the top of the sphere to connect Harry and that sphere, as he had done for the fire one.

Professor Dumbledore repeated the process, until he had wind (blue misty vapour – " Elos es domine echos maran Tundra" and earth ("Elos es domine echos maran Gaea"). When it was all finished Harry's unconscious body was connected to the four elemental spheres by a thread of that element and Professor Dumbledore on the brink of his own unconsciousness.

Using this magic to heal something was not a hard task, but to heal someone very sick, like Harry was, required the summoning of massive amounts of elemental powers. It tended to weaken the wizard and if the summoner becomes unconscious, then the elemental powers called up vanishes. Professor Dumbledore watched as the four spheres started to move about on an imaginary shell of a sphere, occasionally stopping on top of Harry's chest before continuing. 

Once he had recovered from summoning the elements, Professor Dumbledore started gathering his powers again to summon the fifth and final element. Void.

It was the forbidden element and as such it was only used in the very advanced ancient magic. Most ancient magic however needed so little magic to be called up that they did not show up like it had for this particular healing spell (exception was the protection that Lily had cast on Harry). Void was also the element that only he could call upon, since it was he who was the guardian of the forbidden element. Because of Professor Dumbledore's mastery of this element, lord Voldemort feared him. 

Professor Dumbledore was afraid, that Harry's growth in magic would be stalled, if he were to infuse Harry with this type of magic, but then again he had no choice. At the rate that Harry was deteriorating (Professor Dumbledore did not want to worry anyone... very fast), if he was not treated quickly, he would die of magic poisoning. 

When Harry unknowingly used his power, he had caused magic to flow into his bloodstream. His human body had not yet gone through a metamorphosis, which would have had prevented excess magic to go into his muscles, by coating the walls of his veins with a substance that would have had absorbed the excess magic. The reason Harry fell unconscious was that because magic started to seep into his brain, making it impossible for him to controls his own body any more. 

* The fifth and final element...* he thought, as he made something sharp appear at the end of the wand. He used it to puncture one of his fingers, letting a drop of blood appear where it had been punctured.

The blood without any incantations did the will of its master, it formed a sphere of glass around itself, much like the one around all the other elements. In his blood Professor Dumbledore carried the forbidden element and only one who is the guardian and master of the element can use this power. That is why Lord Voldemort had not tried to take the blood of Professor Dumbledore to rise back into the world of the living. If he had, he would been destroyed from within. 

Void can be summoned in two forms...one like he had done here, and the other...was to call upon on it, like he had with the other four elements. He did not dare do it this time as in his weakened state he was not sure his mastery of the element would have had prevented destruction of the whole school if something went wrong. 

The fifth element however did not move around like the other three, but it stayed over the exact spot where the threads were connected to Harry's chest, though out side the sphere that the other four elements made.

Then the most amazing part of the magic began.

First Professor Dumbledore sent a red spark at the ceiling to make it disappear, leaving the room exposed to the morning sun. Something else happened as well...but I'll come to that later... Then the four elements started to move so fast that they would only be viewed when one of them stopped between Harry and the sphere containing the void element. Professor Dumbledore sent another spark into the sky above, it was different this time. It was orange and it was more like a sustained burst. 

Where it disappeared into the sky, a few seconds later, a small dark cloud appeared. It grew rapidly, too rapidly to be a natural phenomenon, until the sky (as far as the eye would allow to see) became as dark as it is at night. Unearthly shades of lightning dance from cloud to cloud. Though the darkening of the sky was not noticed, the loud rumbling noises made everyone, wherever they were, look up to the sky. 

Three separate lightning strikes of different colours danced to one cloud and connected. It was almost as if it was fuelling something in there, then with a brightness and loudness not usually attributed to thunder, the combined might of the three sizzled through the air and into the room containing Harry. 

There it passed through the blood in the smallest sphere and then the sphere of Fire that had stopped below it, before striking Harry's body. Every nerve endings in his body was on fire. Harry though unconscious before this, woke up. He creamed in pain... but both he and Professor Dumbledore were powerless to stop this. 

For the next three and a half-hours...this torture continued. The lightning would gather before striking Harry, after passing through the blood (void element) and then one of the other elements. Each time, Harry would scream in pain. When the final lightning strike his body, it had passed through all the spheres, destroying them as it went through. 

Still in pain from the magic done on him, Harry barely managed to squeak out, " He's after Karafauff...." before fainting.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	34. CH 34: The Long Explanations 13

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 34/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 34  
**Chapter Name:** The long Explanation...

Hermione was not usually as absent minded in her classes. Her mind again wondered to what she had thought of a few minutes ago when Parvati had brought her out of her daze, with that small explosion. * How could I think, Harry would be so...so... * she really did not know what word to use to describe what she thought of Harry before.

The more she thought about it, the more would get angry at herself for behaving like an idiot. She just hoped when she was going to visit Harry at night, if he was awake, he would forgive her. She hoped he would be as lenient on her as he was with Ron the year before. Frustrated with herself, she turned her head towards the window, only to be greeted by an unearthly sight. Something that was even in the magical world seemed unreal.

" What in heaven's name is that?" she said loudly, managing to get attention from students from everyone in the class.

" Wha..." started to say Ron, but he stopped when he saw what Hermione had seen.

" What are you guys..." started Parvati, "...Oh! By Merlin's beard! What is that!"

Parvati managed to get the attention of Lavender, who screamed upon seeing the phenomenon. 

Hearing the scream, Ron's dazed mind snapped out of it and his gaping mouth closed, as the rest of the class looked to what the four saw. Everyone other than Ron, Hermione and Parvati had a mixture of panic and horror written on their face, as they thought that the deatheaters were attacking the school.

Before anyone else from the class could overreact... Professor Flitwick, who the people who were paying attention to Professor Flitwick saw that he had received a small piece of paper on his desk, cast a silencing spell. He had done that to stop individual students from spreading their fear to those around them.

"Ahem..." he coughed a false one, "...what you see happen there in the Hospital Wing was ancient magic."

If there was no silencing charm, then a gasping noise would have had been heard by Professor Flitwick.

" Professor Dumbledore asks me to inform you that..." he said, reading the paper in front of him, " what you see unfold in front of your eyes, is the magic being used to revive Harry. Please do not go into the Hospital wing. The rooms are sealed until as such a time as the magic is completed...." he looked up from the parchment and said, " ...that means, get comfortable, we're staying here for a while. Lunch will be served in the room."

Professor Flitwick waited a while before he removed the silencing charm and went back to teaching.

If Professor Flitwick had not acted the way he did, the class would have had been in a panic. He certainly was glad that he was not in a class full of Slytherins when this happened. He felt really bad for any teacher cursed to have been in a class with them at that moment.

Professor Pasha's dueling class...5th year Slytherins and a few 6th and 7th year Ravenclaws.

Ali Pasha did not like teaching pupils whom he could sense were destined to be dark wizards, but he had to teach every one other wise his position at Hogwarts was in jeopardy. As much as he hated to admit it, Malfoy was one of the best students he had ever had, with the possible exception of as Hermione, but then again no one ever has been. Harry really was not his student, as what Harry now knows came from Professor Dippet some 13 years ago. 

Part of the reason Ali Pasha had accepted the teaching job was to fight Harry. His own teacher and mentor (long time before Harry came to Morocco), Professor Dippet had told him that Harry was to become a very strong warrior. He told him that Harry was really good and was good enough to be his equal or even better than Ali. 

That simple possibility made him accept the teaching post at Hogwarts. That is why was so surprised when it seemed like Harry was barely qualified to be on the same mat as Hermione, on the first few days of Harry and Hermione's training, as he was getting beaten up by her lot. It made him doubt whether or not he should have had accepted the job.

But his doubt disappeared when he found out Harry apparated with the Nundu, as it showed great potential for Harry, far more than anyone else. Professor Pasha had assumed that somehow Harry would survive the encounter with the creature and makes it alive to Morocco. There he would increase his powers, until he somehow would be able to jump back in time to during the war and bring about its end, under an alias. 

Ali Pasha always wanted to test his strength against Harry, or more like the legendary figure Harold Parker, whom he had heard stories about when he was fighting in the war. Though Ali Pasha was now known as the best practitioner of the arts, he was always regarded as second to Harold Parker, who fought a large number of wizards by himself on both sides to stop both sides from fighting. 

It had saddened Ali Pasha that Harry would not be participating in the Dueling tournament, but he understood Harry's reasons. Not only that of Harry's encounter with Voldemort at the end of Harry's fourth year, but also the fact that from the way Harry held back and second guessed his every move in the Dueling class that he was waiting for something. His suspicions were confirmed, sort of, when the Professor Dumbledore refused to tell whether or not his suspicions were correct.

Hermione ate her dinner in silence. This was not weird. The weird part was the fact that she and the 5th year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were eating them at their Charms class. When it was time for their lunch, plates and goblets started to appear for each person. Several times during the lunchtime, Hermione had starred out of the window at the amazing lighting and thunder show. She wanted to go and see the magic, but not because she wanted to examine how it was done or any other academic pursuit. She wanted to see how Harry was doing. Dread, depression and waves of panic hit Hermione as she sat there. Moving food around her plate.

Alicia wanted to take the first shift for watching Harry, but Professor Dumbledore was very insistent that it would be Roger Davies who would be the first person on guard. He gave no reason, but as always he had the last word.

When the student's were allowed to leave their classes, their teachers told them that the classes for that day had been cancelled. The Hufflepuffs celebrated, since their next class was supposed to be with Professor Snape. Seamus had almost lost his nerves trapped in the room. Finally before they were supposed to leave for their individual classes (it started to rain after the magic had finished), Seamus gathered up all his courage and stepped up to Hannah Abbot.

"ermm...excuse me Hannah." He said with a definite tremble in his voice.

" What is it Seamus?" she asked very softly.

" I wasss...." he stopped in the middle of his sentence when he found Hanna's blue eyes glued to his face.

" You were goin to..." she offered, with a smile.

Her smile seemed to fill Seamus with unimaginable amount of energy as his demeanour suddenly changed. He became very confident as to what he needed to do.

" I was wondering... would you like to go to the end of term ball with me?"

The question shocked everyone present except for Hermione. Even Dean Thomas, who knew about Seamus's plan, did not think his friend had enough courage to go through with it.

" You what?" was her reaction, while her friends were either giggling or stood with an open mouth.

It took a second for her to realise what Seamus had said. She could not help but be flattered by the very very early invitation. As she figured it, Seamus must have had thought that his only chance to ask her out was now, at the beginning of the term rather than ask at the end of the term and risk the possibility that she already found herself a date. She realised that he was afraid that the older boys would ask her out before he had a chance to do so.

" We.." started to say Hannah, " I would love to..." Seamus's smile on his face became twice as big, " but..."

" Oh! No!" said Seamus. His face faltered, as his heart jumped off a cliff and onto jagged rocks below. 

" ...it's too early. How about we go to the next Hogsmede trip together? If we have a good time until the ball, I'll go with you."

"WhooHooo!" said Seamus, hardly capable of sustaining his own happiness.

He was not the only one. All the Gryffindor boys let out enough whoops and catcalls at the pair to make them both blush a fairly deep shade of red.

" Well that was surprising..."said Parvati.

Lavender, equally amused said, " Yeah, I'll say"

Parvati looked at Hermione to ask how she felt about the situation, but did not ask as there was a very sombre expression on her face. She moved closer to Hermione and enveloped her in a hug. " He'll be alright...Professor Dumbledore is with him. If there was something really bad with him, he would have had told us." Parvati stopped hugging Hermione and said, " We'll go by the Hospital Wing..." her eyes sparkling, she said, " ...maybe they'll let us see him". Parvati knew it was not really true, but she wanted to comfort Hermione.

Hermione knew that as well, but could see no reason for her to mope any longer. She scanned the pockets of people in the sea of people that were passing the three girls, "...where is Ron anyway?"

" I think I heard him say something to Neville... Oh yeah... He said he was going to the great hall to get some food."

" Well Let's go." Said Parvati, moving Hermione in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

" WHAT. DO. YOU. MEAN. HE'S. NOT. ALLOWED. ANY. VISITORS?" yelled Hermione at the top of her voice. She had emphasised each and every one of the words in that small sentence in the hopes that it would go through the Headboy's head.

" I..I..I don't know...I was told not to let any one in. Specially you." He covered his head with his hands, and cowered against the door. He was afraid of the Girl's wrath. It was quite understandable, since Hermione at five foot eight was a full four inches taller. Though he was the headboy and two years older, he had seen Hermione fight with Harry and he did not think he knew enough (specially after the golden flame he had seen Hermione do).

Hermione was going to beat up the headboy right there, had Parvati and Lavender not jumped on top of her and forced her to the ground. 

" Hermione...this is not like you!" said Parvati, as she used her knee to hold down Hermione's right arm and use both of her hands to restrain the other one. Because she was on her side lying on top of Hermione, this stopped Hermione from getting up. Her legs were held together by Lavender who was sweating at the amount of effort it took to control Hermione.

" Well! I have to see him. I have...have...have to talk to..." Hermione did not finish the sentence, because she broke down crying.

Parvati let go of Hermione, who backed in to the wall and started to cry. Lavender and Parvati both sat on either side of her and held her close. Parvati put her shoulder on Hermione's and said, " It'll be okay..."

" Yeah..."said Lavender, " ...it's not like he's dead or something."

Hermione was slowly beginning to stop her flow of tears when Lavender's words brought her back to tears, worse than ever. 

" Good going...Lavender." scolded Parvati.

" He said..." Hermione pointed at the headboy (Roger Davies), " Harry doesn't want to talk to me..."

Roger was listening to the three girls, he had not intended to overhear them, talking as loud as they did he could not help it. He piped up, still far from the three girls, " I said no such thing!" He paused, " What I said was that, I've been told not to let anyone in. Especially Fred and George's brother and You. I'm only following orders from the headmaster." 

" See Harry doesn't hate you..." said Parvati.

" Well he hasn't talked to me...." said Hermione, looking ready to let the dam in her eyes be broken.

" Did you let him?"

" No..." came the almost whispered answer.

" Did he try anyway?"

" Yes..." her voice was so very quite that they had to strain themselves to hear him.

" How long ago this start?" ask Parvati.

" Yesterday..."

" You haven't even been angry at Harry for 24 hrs...he can't hate you." Parvati reasoned.

Lavender decided that it was a safe time for her to join the conversation. 

" Yeah...We'll get to see him soon. Besides the way he is about Quidditch, I doubt he'll not be a 100% for the tryouts..."

Parvati smiled at Lavender. This is a very good way to comfort Hermione. 

" She's right you know..." she stopped dead in the middle of the conversation as the head boy approached Hermione.

" The headmaster did tell me to tell you that Harry would be alright by the end of the day tomorrow. The healing magic was particularly rough on him and it would take the rest of today and most of tomorrow night for Harry to recover."

Hermione brightened up considerably. " Thanks for telling me this"

Roger was going to say welcome, but Lavender jumped up to him and kissed him full on the lips. Hermione and Parvati exchanged shocked glances. Neither had any idea why Lavender had kissed Roger, and it seemed Lavender did not either as she shrieked, " Ahhh...What have I done?", before taking off really fast from there. Hermione and Parvati followed very close. Roger was too stunned to do anything other than falling backwards onto the floor with shock.

" That was something" said Ron as he congratulated Seamus on his date with Hannah.

" Yeah..." said Neville patting Seamus on the back.

The twins showed up from their elective class of "Magical Reaction" an advanced potion class that Professor Snape took. " Did I hear it right? Someone ask someone else to the ball already?"

" How did you know?" asked Ron, very surprised that his brothers had found out about the date so fast.

" SO Ickle Ronniekins has a date..." said Fred/George.

" Where is Hermione? We want to tease the little woman a bit..."said the other twin.

" I don't have a date with Hermione." Said Ron turning a awful shade of red.

" Oh... We assumed it was you, since you asked us how we knew..." asked the first one.

" Which by the way is a secret, and we hope to sell to Zonkos very soon..." said the other one handing out small bits of parchment, which turned out to be business cards. Ron took one. It read: 

****

Fred & George Weasley  
_Proud proprietors of   
Weasley Wizard Whizzes (WWW)_

Maker's of all you pranking and joke need.   
Everything you can think of including the kitchen sink.  
_Since 2 months 3 weeks and 2 days ago _

" So who is the lucky boy?" asked one of them.

Seamus put his hand up slowly.

" Hmm..." said one of them, circling him one way, while the other circled in the opposite way. " Hmm...indeed."

" Who is the girl?" they asked together.

" Hannah Abbot...from Hufflepuffs."

" Hmm...she's beautiful..." said one of them, much to Seamus's displeasure. 

" You sure you don't want to..." started one of them

" ...go for a Nice Griffindor girl..."

" ...Like Ginny over there perhaps..."

" Or... Elizabeth next to her" (both of the girls blushed when they heard the boys talking about them) One of the twins then got the really good idea of teasing Ron as well.

" Maybe even Hermione..."

(A/N: Fred and George are behaving quite unlike themselves. There is a reason for this. They had been doing very little pranking and a lot of studying, and this meant that the were in great need of some release... they are just using anything they can to amuse themselves.)

Ron piped up. He really did not want to let any of the other boys to think of Hermione in that way other than himself. " Hey! The guy has got a date. And all you can tell him is he should have had chosen another girl!"

" Oops! Sorry Ickle Ronniekins. We didn't want to talk about your Girlfriend..."

" She's not my girlfriend" he said, almost screaming.

" Well in that case..."said on of the twins with a very serious tone, " You would not mind me asking her out?"

" Fred!" said obviously George since he just called out the other ones, name, " I don't know you had a thing for Hermione."

Ron grumbled something to his brothers before he headed out of the room. He knew he would never be able to compete with anyone of his brothers if they decided that they like Hermione. 

" Ron" yelled Fred from downstairs, " We were only joking" before he broke into laughter.

" What were you two joking about?" asked Hermione, who had appeared behind the boys after her visit to the hospital wing.

" errr...we have to go" said Fred breaking into a run, dragging George along with him.

" What was all that about?" she asked again this time to Dean Thomas, next to Seamus.

" Nothing really...Well will you look at that" he pointed at the large wall clock above the fireplace. "...It's time for our meeting...sorry girls we have to go" said the other boys as they all left in a group.

" What group?!?!" she asked very puzzled, but got no answer as all the boys vanished into their common room.

Hermione did wonder what the boys were talking about but stopped when Parvati brought out a packet of exploding snap cards. As she played the game, Hermione thought it was odd how she had not gone totally obsessed with her OWL yet. 

Usually she would be going at it a long time before the exams and would have had drawn up revision tables by now. Not to mention the fact that she would been nagging her two best friends to start studying. 

She realised that she had over the years changed. She was no longer the bossy and annoying kid, well maybe just a little, that she was when she was in muggle schools. The same things (being bossy, annoying and most importantly being smart) that had made an outcast of her in the muggle school, had brought her two very wonderful friends. She looked across two Parvati and Lavender. * Now I have another two...* she thought. But there two would not have had been her friends if Harry and Ron had not gone to save her in his first year.

* I have a lot to thank those two idiots for...* she thought.

Suddenly she thought back to the reason why she was in that toilet that night. It was because Ron had behaved like all the boys (and girls) at her muggle school. He had pointed out to Harry that Hermione had no friends. It surprised her that even through he was the reason she was in the toilet that day, she attributed her rescue more on Ron.

* One of these days I have to find out why they went back to save me?*

Dinner could not have had finished fast enough for Hermione. Every few minutes, she looked at her watch to see how long was left. Each second seemed to take longer than the one before and finally, after playing with her food all night long, she finally put a whole lot in her mouth and left for the common room. Ron saw her leave, and wondered if he should go after her, as he half suspected that Hermione was somehow blaming herself for Harry's predicament. Just as he was about to leave his favourite dishes filled up his plates. 

* Right after this * he thought. But by the time he had finished his dinner, Ron had completely forgotten about why he wanted to talk to Hermione.

It took Hermione over ten minutes to go to the common room and then to her dorm to retrieve the cloak and the marauders map. She closed the drapes around her four poster bed with a spell. Though it was possible to open the drapes by the simple " Alohomora" spell, she did not think any one in her dorm room had mastered that spell yet.

She posted a note on the drapes, telling anyone to wake her up before the next morining would die of a horrible of a horrible curse or have a face full of acne that'll stay with them until the day they die.

She shivered a bit as she put on the cloak. Her senses were assaulted by the memories of her and her two male friends' escapades under the cloak. She took out the map and made her way secretly to the hospital wing. It took her quite a long time to navigate through avoiding everyone. When she saw Mrs. Norris, she flashed back to the time in their first year when Ron wanted to kick her, while they were under the cloak. She almost gave away her position, because it was hard for her to hide her giggles. She shook her head to get rid of the silly grin that was plastered all over her face.

At the door (more like the corner to the corridor) leading to the hospital wing, Hermione got cold feet. She had never done anything the headmaster had forbidden, without help from Harry and Ron. But she got over it very fast. She rounded the corner and walked very silently through the corridors. She saw Alicia sitting outside the door, scanning the hall from where she sat, and looking out for anyone who might be trying to sneak into the hospital wing. 

Hermione was only about five feet from where Alicia was sitting when she thought she caught Alicia staring right at her. That little thing made her heart stop, but relaxed a little when Alicia turned her head the other way. The only occupied bed was the one that was the furthest from the door. This eased Hermione's mind a lot, as she was sure that if the bed was close to the door then Alicia might hear her.

One look at Harry's body (he was naked from waist up), she could broke down and started to cry. There were bruises everywhere, and Harry's scar she could see had been bleeding very slightly from before. She could see his now fairly well muscled arms hands covered in scratches and scorch marks...well actually it was soot, grime and self-inflicted scratches, when he was trying to escape the ancient and powerful magic done on him. 

She went to the nurse's table and retrieved some water and some spare gauze that was there. She dipped a bit of gauze in the water and started to clean Harry's scar. " It'll be a while before I get the scar cleaned so..." she whispered to the unconscious Harry in his sleep as she wiped a tear from her own face, " listen carefully..."

She took extraordinary care to wipe away the dry blood, and clean the jagged edges of his scar. When the gauze was almost crimson, she dipped it in the bowl of water (magical cleaner mixed in to disinfect and remove blood) and squeezed it to release all the blood. She used the clean cloth to start to wipe Harry's face and then rest of his body as she spoke to him.

" I'm really sorry about the way I acted yesterday... I..I ... don't know what happened to me," she said wiping away yet another tear, " I promise I'll make it up to you..."

Some more sobbing before, " I remember telling Ron how much of an idiot he was being not to believe you...yes... I know I said I wouldn't tell him that when you asked last year during TriWizard Tournament... but I did." 

She wiped off another tear, this time on the other cheek, "...and look what I did because I thought you wouldn't need me to be your friend anymore... just get better okay. Then I'll apologise and kick your butt in the tournament."

She moved onto Harry's left arm, where there was a scar from the small griffins that had attacked him a long while ago. It was very grimy but Harry's palm was something she had not expected it to be. It used to be very slightly harsh form Quidditch practice and poor maintenance of his wand. The result of the poor maintenance was that she had to help Harry remove a lot of splinters over the years. The spell had to be cast by another person. More specifically using another wand, otherwise there was always the chance of the splinter cause damage to nerves in the body.

But after Harry's return this was the first time she had seen and felt his hands up close and she could see they were different than the ones she had seen and felt only a week ago when Harry was trying to save her. They were alot harsher and worn with time then they should have had been. She attributed it to all the running and physical activity Harry had started doing after coming from Morocco. Not to mention the two days that Harry was missing in the desert. " Looks like you need to discover moisturisers..." she mumbled, "...your hands are as smooth as the Himalayas... anyway... I'll tell you what's been happening."

" You missed the announcement that Lee Jordan was removed as the commentator for the Quidditch games. Snape used Lucius Malfoy to remove him. Said, biased he was. They are gonna use another student to do it, but I doubt that anyone can be as good as him...I do admit he was biased, but he was the best that the school has had in a long time... wel that's what the twins told me at dinner time."

" In the morning today, I went to the lakeside to do some practice for the Dueling tournament, guess who I ran into. Cho Chang. Yep, she was there to practice Kung Fu. Well I wanted to train as well, so I asked if I could join her for a bit of one on one. I could not believe how good she was. It took her about ten minutes to make me submit... She's gonna be a lot of competition, so I've decided we're gonna train for the tournament together.."

" He won't be in the tournament" said a feminine voice, that she knew to belong to Alicia.

" Alicia...How did you..." she started to say, but stopped when she saw Alicia smile. It was more in the range of amusement than anything else. It only took Hermione a second to realise what Alicia might have been thinking. "...It's not what it looks like?"

" What exactly does it look like, Hermione?" asked Alicia.

" I'm not his girlfriend or anything...I just came to say..." 

Alicia interrupted her. " sorry..."

" How did you know?" asked Hermione.

" He told me yesterday...when we were playing exploding snaps in the common room... I was just wondering how long you would be mad at him....hmmm"

" Hmm. What?" asked Hermione.

" Well I thought it was gonna last more than that... I though until the weekend, but I guess that incident with the Veloron moved up the timetable."

" It did..." Hermione wanted to desperately ask Alicia one question before she wanted to make a run for the common room. "...er...what did you mean about Harry not taking part in the Dueling tournament?"

Alicia lifted one eyebrow and answered, " Harry's not taking part...I can't really blame him. I mean, with what happened the last time he was in a competition..." Her voice was very sympathetic.

" I should have had guessed that's what would have had happened." She twiddled her fingers in front of her, as Alicia took another piece of gauze and dipped it in the water. 

Alicia then proceeded to clean Harry's other arm of the soot and grime. It amazed both girls that Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey left Harry in the condition that he was.

" You saw me come in didn't you?" asked Hermione very curious as to why the headgirl let her into the hospital wing when she was supposed to keep everyone out.

" Yeah I did... don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone. I wanted you and him back to friends as much as you."

" What do you mean?"

" Well... When you two were fighting, if I can even call it that, I saw how different he was. It's odd to be around him when he's like that. He was more reserved, almost as if he was avoiding getting hurt..."

Suddenly Hermione blurted out, " you like him, Don't you?"

Even in the dim light of the room, Hermione could see Alicia turn pink. " No...No..." she said, trying to hide the truth from Hermione.

" No you do!.." said Hermione, practically shouting, "... you were the same way when I told you about Harry switching class to Runes...yeah!" Hermione was getting more and more excited, "...and when they were doing the sorting... I saw you blush several times... It was because of Harry wasn't it?!"

" No!" said Alicia, her voice betraying the outrage that it was supposed to have.

" It is!" Hermione kept going without a thought to what Alicia had said.

" No!" Alicia tried again, but she was really bad at this and Hermione was paying no attention to her denials.

" So?" said Hermione, expecting and answer.

" So what?" Alicia looked very guilty.

" How long have you felt this way for Harry?" Hermione asked giggling.

" I didn't say I feel a thing..."

Hermione made a face at Alicia, who gave up all pretences,

"...Oh... all right... If you must know. Since last year...well kind of"

" Since when last year?" It even amazed Hermione what she asked next. ("...I want details"), as it was more in line with what Parvati or Lavender would ask.

" Since... don't tell him. All right?"

Hermione nodded. 

" Since the ball... he looked so cute on the dance floor, but it was a bit of a shame how his date was moving him around on the dance floor."

" Wow!... You have no idea... but that's what Harry told me too. You two were made for each other." Hermione squealing with joy.

" You think so..." Alicia grinned a little, " I mean... Who says I'm interested in him like that..." Alicia did not want to hear any more from Hermione so she asked her to leave.

" I think you should go now... Madam Pomfrey would be back soon, to check on Harr's progress."

" You don't want to know if he likes you or not?" Hermione ask tentatively, teasing.

" I do...No. I don't... If Madam Pomfrey sees you both of us would be in trouble"

" She won't see me." Said Hermione.

" Because of that cloak?" Alicia asked pointing to the watery clok near the edge of Harry's bed.

Hermione nodded.

" Yes!... by the way how did you see through it?"

" Professor Dumbledore gave me this..." Alicia held out her palm.

In it she had a small clear opal like stone. It sparkled like that of the opal eye dragon's eye. It only took a fraction of a second for Hermione to realise why exactly did the stone look the eyes of the Opal Eye Dragon. Because it was the eye of the dragon!

" Is that...Wow...Oh...Wow..Is...Is that...Wow oh Wow!" Hermione started babbling.

" Yep! Eye of the Opal Eye Dragon... Ability to see what can not be seen..." Alicia said it with pride, " This is the reason, you have to get out..." now her voice was more nervous than pride, " Madam Pomfrey has the other eye that Professor Dumbledore has. He gave one to her and one to me. I have to give mine to Roger when he comes to take over his shift. This is why you have to go!"

Alicia was basically pushing Hermione out of the door, as she said her final words, " If you tell Harry about anything I said to you... Lets just say I can pair you with Malfoy in anything... including the ball. Not to mention what kind of punishment you'd get for breaking into the hospital wing."

" You wouldn't?" Hermione said, he voice expressed how much she would hate to be paired up with Draco.

" Oh, Yes I will and you know I'm supposed to choose a couple to promote inter-house relationship. I was going to choose a Ravenclaw with a Hufflepuff, but if you tell Harry anything..." Alicia let her words hang in the air, which made Hermione even more nervous than before. Hermione did not want to take a chance at getting caught by Madam Pomfrey nor get Alicia mad at her. The last thing she wanted was to go to the ball with Malfoy, even that came after her own death on the list of things she did not want to do.

After she left the hospital wing, Hermione felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulder. She was thinking about the assignment that Hagrid had given the whole class to be handed in a few weeks time, when suddenly she remembered something.

* I thought I put a charm on the sheet covering the Veloron cage... I know I did. * Hermione stopped in her tracks. Something odd was going on and she had to find out what it was. * I think I'll go check it out tomorrow morning. * she thought, entering the common room very quietly.

Hermione cried to sleep that night, even though she had apologised to Harry and she felt everything would be all right, she cried not because Harry might never forgive him, but because she was ashamed of what she had done. She had put no thought about Harry when she had judges that Harry would participate in the tournament. She cried into her pillow for an hour before slumber over took her.

*

****

NEXT DAY...

It took a while for Hermione to realise why her pillow was wet. When she looked at herself in the mirror, after splashing her face with water, she saw a pair of puffy and bloodshot eyes stare back at her. When she finally stopped her eyes were back to normal, but the puffiness she could make it go away.

At breakfast Malfoy received a note from Professor Dumbledore. He looked scared, nervous and slightly on the edge as he read the message.

**__**

To Mr. Malfoy  
Your presence is required in the headmaster's chambers today at lunchtime. There will be a hearing on your alleged assault on Professor Rubeus Hagrid. The door will open once you reach it. 

****

Professor Dumbledore  
Headmaster

Malfoy managed to keep a straight face when he read the letter. This was not because he was afraid of what his punishment was going to be, for he already knew that his father had after receiving his letter blackmailed the board of governors into not expelling him.

His father was quite proud in the letter that he sent his son back. He mentioned several times that his son had a great future ahead of him on the dark side. Lucius had not used those exact words but the tone of the letter said it all.

Though he was not going to be expelled Malfoy was afraid that he might be punished, and punished severely. He just hoped it would not be the forbidden forest. He still got nightmares of the time he was in there with Harry and Neville.

By breakfast time, Hermione had decided that she would take a lot of notes for the classes that Harry missed. Defence against Dark Arts class was a double one and Hermione was sure Harry would kick himself for missing the class. As with the last time all the boys threw up at the beginning of the class, when Fleur handed out the chocolate. When she went past Hermione's desk she stopped.

" How iz ee doing?" she asked

" Harry?... He's doing fine..." she was going to say that when she last saw him he was sleeping very peacefully, but caught herself, " ... The headboy told me he'll be back to normal by the end of the day."

" When we are allowed to visit 'im, pleze tell me... I'm busy wiz my classes so I huv a nasty habit of forgetting things."

" Ok..." said Hermione a bit uncertain why Fleur needed to be told how Harry was doing?...for that matter why Fleur wanted to see him when he was feeling better.

" Okay...claaz.. Tozay, we are going to start on the proper curr...currii..." she wanted to say curriculum, but she could not pronounce it. It would have had turned embarrassing, if Hermione had not piped up asking about something that she really wanted to know about and she had not had time to go to the library yet. Her question was one that had been bothering Hermione since the night before, it was about the eye of the dragon.

" Professor Fleur..." she said, " Could you tell us about the eyes of the dragon?"

" Zee eye of the Dragonz is not till the end of zee terms... I'll cover it then. We neez to get back to zee planned lesson..."

" Okay then can we hear about the ancient magic?" asked Parvati, getting quite sick of sitting next to the drooling (literally) Dean Thomas.

" Zat is not zis year. We'll.." started Fleur, but all the other girls were interested in what had happened to Harry and this was a perfect opportunity to find out.

" Okay...I will cover zee topic. But zere iz going to be a lot of homework that you'll have to zo.." this was not a problem for the girls. They were all very interested in Defence against Dark Arts and Fleur could make the class interesting, even to the girls. She was almost as good as Professor Lupin. 

(A/N: I'm not doing the Fleur speech thing.... it's too hard to do for long chapters!) 

" Ancient Magic is the magic is the art of elemental magic. It's been around from the time of Merlin. All magic he used was the elemental, wand magic only came about when Merlin decided that some human were worthy of magic. He did not restrict the use of magic for the purposes of good, as it is a subjective term. What is good for one country, spells the end of another."

" Some of the most elite of the magical world, attempt to learn one of the elements powers. Drawing power from the elements is not simple and takes years of practise...." Fleur went about explaining what the 3028 steps that the wizards had to go through to learn the element.

" Once you master one element, you can use that to summon all the others. It is a very complicated procedure and one is very power consuming. It has led to deaths of many famous wizards. Salhazar Slytherin was one such famous wizard. But he was not the only one. His mistake during his battle with Goderic for the hand of Rowena Ravenclaw was the most famous one. He summoned up fire, but he did not control it well, he burned himself to ashes."

" Are there any other?" Hermione asked getting into the topic, though she would have had liked her own question answered much better..

" Yes... The battle of Maenad. It was not one person but a group of wizards and witches, established in France, calling themselves Maenad, had tried to summon a large amount of the element earth. The mistake was made by one of the caster, which summoned up the forbidden element. To this day there is a scorching mark on the same place. No one survived that accident. The loss of magical life was estimated to be thirty three, but the one that makes that place forbidden is the fact that the muggle population of about sixty thousand died because of the accident."

" Professor Dumbledore, your headmaster is the only known master of the forbidden element. That is why he is the chief warlock... Oh! I forgot to tell you... One wizard can only be a master of one element. Several had tried after Merlin to master more than one, but they never did. The human mind is not capable of rational thinking when they try to control more than one element. Once that happens the best way to neutralise the situation is for someone watching the person do this, to kill him or her. The summoned element vanishes, when the person who summoned the element is either unconscious or dead."

" Professor Fleur?..."it was Ron. " What do you look for in a man?" The girls were shocked at the question... not only was it highly inappropriate, it was also the off the topic. Hermione looked like she was ready to kill Ron at that moment.

" Nothing any of you boys have... I would like to get back to the topic I was discussing before..." it clicked in Fleur's mind why the boys might have been loosing concentration.

" Okay..." said Ron, his voice dreamy.

It seemed some of the boys were actually not eating the whole of the Chocolate frog. This meant that they would loose focus occasionally. " Mr. Wesley...did you eat the chocolate frog that I gave you?"

" No..." he answered dreamily, before realising what he had said, " er...i mean yes I did" it was not a complete lie.

" In that caze pleze...have another."

" Oh...do I have to?" asked Ron, looking positively sic at the thought of having to eat another one

" Yez...you all huv to..."

After ten minutes later the class was back to normal again. It took that long because she made sure that all the boys ate their chocolate frogs.

" What waz I zaying?"

Hermione helped, " If the fall unconscious or die the summoned elemental power is lost."

" Thank Oou Hermione" she said moving to the other side of the room, (A/N: Going back to normal English) " The elemental magic performed yesterday was well beyond anything I've seen being performed. Madam Maxime, my former Headmistress showed a small demonstration of her abilities with the element water, in which she created a creature out of thin air. As you all may know creating inanimate objects out of thin air is not a very hard task, but to create a living creature from the beginning (instead of creating an inanimate object and giving it life), is a totally different thing altogether. 

" Has there ever been any one who controlled all the elements?" asked Hermione.

" There's only ever been one... it was Merlin, father of modern magic... thought there's been a prophecy around for a long time... it's about the Heir of Merlin"

" But he never married anyone?" said Parvati.

Fleur smiled and said, " You do not need to marry anyone to bear a child..." 

This caused almost all the girls in the room the blush, as well as a fairly large portion of the boys (Neville, Crabbe and Goyle were in the dark as to what the hidden meaning of the sentence was).

" What's the Prophecy?" asked Lavender who was always interested in anything to do with Divination.

" Well, Ms. Brown, mind you that I do not believe in that junk..." at those words the amount of respect that Hermione had for her tripled, almost the same amount that she had for Professor Flitwick, her second best favourite teacher. "... I know I'm going way out of the class plan, but I'll do it quickly since there is only a few more minutes of the class left."

" The prophecy was foretold by a French fisherman. He was a muggleborn wizard, in the dark time he was born he was not educated in the magical arts. He foretold the Arrival of the ONE."

" He was very cryptic. It went something like this..."

__

One when One

Peace

When five and five twice more

Is three.

One must see his heart

His heart must choose

He must be the saviour

He will be the end

He will be the end.

Holding the fire and wind in one hand.

Holding the others with the other hand.

He'll be the void.

He'll be Parker!

Know thyself.

Know thyself.

Know thyself.

Must happen it is! Must happen or punished he would be.

Punished he would be for defying when the stars align....

" The rest of the prophecy is numbers and letters... only the centaurs know what the rest of the prophecy is and they do not tell humans anything willingly." Said Fleur.

" What does that mean?" asked lavender.

" It means nothing!" said Hermione.

" There is something in zere Hermione... zee part about holding the fire and water in one hand and two others with zee fifth being himself.... I think it means that zee One will be zee Heir of Merlin. Not in flez and blood but in power."

" Parker? What does that mean?" asked Lavender.

" It was thought to be a name a long time ago, but some now believe that it's a code. Hiding something very big. Very important. I would not even know of the prophecy had I not had to do an essay on the seer himself for my last year of school."

Fleur barely had time to give out homework when the signal for the end of the class was sounded.

At lunchtime Malfoy made his way to the headmaster's chambers. He took the longest route possible and when Malfoy did read the door he hesitated. But he overcame that. * I'm a Malfoy...and Malfoy's always get what they want * he thought to himself.

The gargoyle jumped out of the way as he reached the entrance to Professor Dumbledore's office. When the wooden door opened, Malfoy was not sure how to react at the person staring right at him. It was his Mother.

" Mother!"

" Don't you mother me young man!" Malfoy's mother was clearly angry.

" I... I..." Malfoy started to stammer.

" You will go and apologise to Professor Hagrid..." she pointed at Hagrid, who looked quite shocked, that Malfoy's mother would be saying that.

" But mother... he's a half gia..." Malfoy did not get to finish that sentence when his mother slapped him hard.

" I don't care if he is half flubberworm." She got a hold of Malfoy's ear and twisted it slightly as she dragged her son towards Hagrid, " He's your teacher and you will show respect to your teachers...Now, Apologise!" Her tone was deadly. 

The smack was not something that anyone in the room was expecting. Hagrid was now even more surprised but he enjoyed the show none the less.

" I certainly wil..." Malfoy tried to defy his mother, but one more twist to the ear changed his mind, " I'm sorry..."

"..err...Apology accepted..."said Hagrid.

Hagrid had originally wanted Malfoy expelled and his wand broken, but after this he really did not care what the other three teachers in the room agreed on. 

" I must offer my sincere apologies to you, Hagrid. I promise you the next time he assaults a teacher, he won't be alive to complain to anyone."

" Nice to hear that!..."

"Well then there's just the little matter of his punishment that is to be decided" said Professor Dumbledore.

" We can't expel him, since his father has already convinced that it was all an accident"

" It was..." said Malfoy rubbing his cheek.

" Well then, I suggest one month of forbidden forest detentions" suggested Professor McGonagall.

" No!" Malfoy yelped in horror.

" Don't worry Mr. Malfoy" said Professor Snape as he turned to Professor Dumbledore, " Surely there is something less dangerous... after all, the board did decide that it was an accident"

" You're right Severus" said Professor Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling with mischief that he had not had since the end of the TriWizard Tournament.

" You can't be serious?" Professor McGonagall uttered her protest.

" Calm down Minerva... I never said what the punishment was"

" What is it then?" Malfoy's mother

" He'll be required to clean the old prefect's bathroom, for a month. Moaning Myrtle's been flooding the entire floor every day and it's getting a ripe in terms of smell....if you know what I mean!"

" No! I don't want to do..." Malfoy refused to do it...well he tried. His mother's grip on his ear made it otherwise, " Ok...ok...I'll do it. I guess it's better than going into the forbidden forest."

" Well since that's settled... we have to decide on how you have to clean the bath room and at what times..." Professor Dumbledore

It took nearly an hour to decide, whether or not a toothpick or a toothbrush would be an appropriate method of cleaning... In the end it was decided that the toothpick would guarantee a better outcome. 

*

When the Defence against Dark Arts class was finished, Hermione dragged Ron with her to the where the care of magical creatures class was held the day before. But there was something very there...

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
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	35. CH 35: The Long Explanations 23

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 35/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 35  
**Chapter Name:** The long Explanations...2/3

When the Defence against Dark Arts class was finished, Hermione dragged Ron with her to the where the care of magical creatures class was held the day before. 

" Where're we going?" he asked rather testily, not wanting to miss out on lunch.

" Lunch will still be there when we get back." She replied, making Ron blush.

" err..."

" We're going to where we had our care of magical creatures class."

" Why?...you want to observe the Veloron again?" smirked Ron.

" No!...well actually it's cage"

Ron stooped dead, as he had joked about the creature. He had not told anyone but the creature had caused him nightmares. " The cage?" he threw up his arms, " Why would you do something like that?" he hid his fear well.

" I want to check something" 

" With that thing? Still in there?"

" Yeah! So what? Harry did it... he didn't get hurt by it"

" That's because I heard him speaking to it in that snake tongue...I mean parseltongue."

Hermione's mouth gaped open. She started to pace around on the spot that they had stopped. She was very surprised for some reason. She had been very close to the Harry when she saw him fall, but she knew that Ron was much closer and as such heard something being spoken between them. " Really?..."

" You don't believe me?...why do you look so surprised?" said Ron, apparently affronted.

" No, that's not it! It's just..."

" Just what?..."

" er... You know what Hagrid said in class?"

Ron just grinned in reply. 

" Honestly, Ron!" her face took on the tell tale signs of a lecture, and Ron being around her for five years knew it was coming, " You should pay more attention in class. The owls are on this year..." 

Ron interrupted, " Do you want me to go back to the great hall?" he threatened.

Hermione looked torn between telling him off for the threat or just tell him what he wants to know. She chose to do the second one and just tell Ron, " Oh! Okay... Velorons are more closely related to dragons, then snakes. You can say because they have winds and a very hard hide, imbued with powerful ancient magic, though admittedly not as powerful as it is in a dragon. But strong enough to throw off a few stunning curses"

Ron did not understand the significance of the statement " So?"

" So...It means when everyone in class took out their wand to defend Harry, I doubt if they even would have been able to make it stagger, let alone save Harry. The second..." Hermione said a bit more dramatically then she needed to, " is a bit more important...but that's only a concern if you answer the question, 'Was he taking softly or loudly?'"

" Softly...can you hurry up and answer this already" 

" I'm trying to. What you heard was probably **Drakh**." She saw Ron's face turn even more confused than it had ever before. " It's kind of like parseltongue...just a bit different. Humans who know parseltongue can control snakes. Drakh is just like any other language. Only dragons can speak it." 

" What!" Ron was outraged. 

Yet another talent of Harry Potter has just been uncovered, and he could not help but feel jealous of him, but then he remembered something which gave him some hope. 

" I don't think you're right!" he said, shaking his head side to side to emphasise his disagreement. Hermione had not expected Ron to object, after all she was always right, and this was not an exception. Hermione felt the need to amuse herself with Ron's objection, so she asked him.

" Why do say that?"

Hermione did not wait for the answer as she slowly started towards their previous destination. Ron followed her without thinking, falling into what Hermione was trying to do, lure him with her to the Velorons cage. She knew her shielding charm was not as powerful as it was for Harry, so, she was planning to get Ron to cast one on her as well. It would increase her shielding charm a lot. She hoped it would be enough to get away from the Veloron if it started to fire balls of fire at her. 

" Because then Harry could have had just asked the dragon last year to let him retrieve the egg." Ron sounded very proud of that piece of deductive work. Hermione thought it was almost a shame that she had to discredit it. Almost. She did not like one of her two friends having some ill-gotten ideas that might prevent them from their OWLs. 

" Do you really think a mother would let anyone make her believe that her eggs were not in danger. Let alone one, who came from the people that had used spells on it to subdue it."

Ron's face fell, but Hermione was not done just yet. " Besides, he would not have had been able to speak it, even if he wanted to... You see humans can only speak it, when the dragons allow the humans capable of speaking it. There are some exceptions, but they don't apply here." Hermione paused to take a breath and then started to explain what the exceptions were, " The first one..."

Ron had recovered slightly, interrupted her, " How do you know so much? You're like a walking library."

Hermione really wanted to smack Ron at that instance. She had had enough torment over that fact for the last four years and she hated it. Coming from Ron, it hurt more than it would have had from someone else. 

" I'm not a walking library." Her voice very cool, " Last year, if you had not been acting like a big jealous prat, you would have been in the library looking up everything about dragons to keep Harry alive. You could have had picked something up" She huffed and started to walk very fast. Ron, surprised from the fact that she had gone so cold at one of his stray comments, fell back a bit. 

" I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. " He said when he caught up to her.

" No!" Hermione turned and said in n even colder voice, " The thing is Ron, you did... go back to your lunch..."

" Hermione, I really did not mean to make you upset. Now that I know it makes you upset, I'll stop. I promise." Hermione looked at Ron's face and she could tell that he was being truthful. She knew that Ron would not say the walking library comment ever again, but there was still a lot of other things that she had to get him to stop saying to her. 

" Ok." She replied.

" Good" said Ron. 

He was about to put his arm around her shoulder when the bright sunlight from the door that Hermione had just opened disrupted his vision.

What they saw when they emerged from the castle, to where they had their last class the day before, they saw something very odd. 

It was Percy!

He had just finished teaching a very large group of children, whom Hermione identified as a group of third years. The class had just finished, as the children were running toward the direction Ron and Hermione had come from. No doubt going into the great hall for their lunch.

" Percy!" called out Ron in surprise.

Percy looked up see his brother waving at him, " Hello there, you two..." he said, in return when the pair made their way to where Percy was busy putting a variety of glowing creatures into a black jar.

" What are you doing here?" asked Hermione, though she had a vague inkling as to what he was doing. " Oh! I was teaching care of magical creatures class..."

" You're what? Since when? How? Where's Hagrid?" asked Ron

" Well, Hagrid had other business to take care of... he left early morning..." he paused and stated to look for something inside his cloak. With a triumphant smile he gave Hermione a piece of parchment. " Hagrid left this with me for you three...well you two can give it to Harry"

Hermione started to read the piece of parchment out loud enough for Ron to hear.

**__**

Dear Harry, Hermione and Ron,

Harry, I hope you are feeling well. I'm sorry to leave before saying good bye personally. But it is for a greater good that I have to go now, please forgive my rather untimely and hasty departure. It's about...well I'm sure you can guess why and where I'm going. If not...ask Hermione. She'll know. (* He's gonna try and contact the giants...maybe his mother too* thought Hermione. Ron had the similar thought as well.) I'll write to you as soon as possible, though it might be a while before I come back again. Take care so you do not overexert yourself. You know what I mean. Take care.

Hermione, the extra credit assignment that you took on, you can hand it in to Charlie when he comes to teach. Percy was wrangled into doing this class, help him out in your classes. I hope you make up with Harry soon, the headmaster told me that you two were fighting...(Hermione blushed. Telling Percy about her and his squabble was not her intention. The rest of the letter she read out softly, so that only Ron and she could hear it. Hermione knew this was not really of any possible help, since Percy probably read the letter already. * How did the headmaster find out!* she thought, looking at Ron, who had a look of pure astonishment on his face.) I hope you would realise how much you two mean to him. You two are, not only his best friends, but you are also his very first friends. (* Well Hagrid, you don't have to worry about that now... Harry and I will be back to normal in no time*)

Ron, look after Harry and Hermione, and try to make sure that they don't have another row once **you've** got them back to being their normal friendly selves to each other again. I'm also warning you that the Velorons have a nasty temper and they tend to take on characteristics of the people they are in care of. Try to control your temper, other wise you are going to have a rather painful experience. (*Ron does not have to worry about me and Harry, but he better be careful around the baby Velorons. With Ron's temper and short fuse, he's gonna have a rather hard year controlling his one.* Hermione almost looked forward to the day they were going to get their little pets to take care of.* It'll teach him to control his temper...now, if only there was a way to get rid of jealous side...*)

Don't try to contact me. It's very dangerous. I'll bring you all presents when I come back.

Wishing you all the well for rest of the term...

****

Hagrid

__

P.S. Hermione, I have a birthday present in my hut for you... you have to get Harry to find it for you. So... make up with him, other wise there's no presents for you.

" So how did you end up doing the class?" Hermione asked Percy, who was trying to put one of the glowing things back into the black jar. Her question was tactful enough so that if Percy did not want to answer then he did not have to. Ron, however, was not so tactful about the subject. It was hard enough for him to live upto Percy's legacy and now he was going to teaching the class that he excelled at, he was sure that rumours of brotherly favouritism would plague his rest of the year. Somehow he forgot about the fact that half the school knew about their close friendship with the groundskeeper turned professor. " How come you're doing it? ...You're no good with magical creatures." Said Ron in an accusative tone. 

" Well...it is true that I'm not particularly fond of anything other than humans, but I am the only person they could hire in a jam like this... besides Charlie is gonna be taking the class. He'll be here in about a month's time... He'll be taking over until the end of the year. Something to do with what Professor Dumbledore has assigned him to... I don't know and I don't particularly care. I'll be happy to get out of this then.... Besides I need the money for something."

" You need money! What do you need money for! You already get paid three times your old salary?"

Percy blushed. 

" Well...." He almost told the pair what he was going to use the money for, but he restrained himself. " Do you have your next class here?" he asked.

" No" answered Ron.

" Then if you don't have anything to ask, go away. I'll give you two five seconds... after that I get to give you detention..." Percy thought for a second and then said, "... that goes for you too, Hermione."

" We do have to ask you something..." started Ron, Hermione interrupted by saying " Can we go and check something? It's for my care of magical creatures, extra credit assignment."

" Sure" said Percy as he walked off in the direction of the great hall.

" Why didn't you let me ask about why he needed the money for?"

" Because it's none of our business...and besides, he looked power hungry enough to give us detentions." Hermione quickly made for the back of Hagrid's hut.

Ron thought back to what his brother looked like and thought it was a good thing he had not challenged his brother right there. It could and would have ended up him in detention and Hermione would have been very upset with him for it.

Hermione could tell by the mess it was behind the hut, that Percy had not had a chance to go there yet. It was perfectly understandable, as the only thing there was the Veloron and some of Hagrid's junk. Ron's heartbeat started to climb when the faint noise of the snarling beast started to become clearer.

" What are we doing here again?"

" Shhhh..." Hermione asked for silence from Ron, as she slowly crept around the hut. Only about ten meters from the hut, she whispered to him, " I'm here to check something... you're here to cast a shielding charm on me"

" What! I'm not as good as you in Charms, I'm likely to the charm wrong."

" Be that as it may, My own shielding charm might not be strong enough."

Ron looked confused. " Didn't Harry have a shielding charm around him when he was with the Veloron?... I mean he can't be stronger than you, can he?"

" He might be. Remember, he's the one that's been fighting off Vold..." Ron shivered, " I mean You-Know-Who, for ages. I know, we had as a hand in it in the first year, but we really did nothing else other than help him one the way. He's the one that faced Vold...You-Know-Who... alone. He's got to be strong to survive those attacks... not to mention he threw off two of the Imperius curses, before he was even 15 and he stood up to Cruciatus curse.... Then..."

" I get it. I get it. He's strong."

" Wait... I'll cast mine first and then when I tell you, you'll cast yours. I'll only get that..." she pointed to the white cloth on top a pedestal near the cage, " white covering..."

" I think I should go..." offered Ron.

" No... Your shield won't be strong enough."

" You cast a shielding charm on me then"

" No... Shielding charms are stronger when the person casting it is close by. That's why.."

" I know..." interrupted Ron, " If we go together, then the charm is gonna be stronger."

" But then there would be no one to get help is anything happens to one of us..." Ron looked rather glum, she kissed him on the cheek and said, " Thanks for the offer anyway. I'm going..."

Hermione's body was for a short time enveloped in a shimmering blue glow, before another layer of the same glow covered her, though this one was much lighter.

" Good luck" said Ron.

****

Few minutes later...

" I can't believe we made it!" said Ron, huffing, " Did...did..you get... it?"

" Yes!... that was a big rush!... Can you believe it!..."

" I can... The way it was doing..."

" yeah and then it..."

" yeah... then the fire..."

Whatever Ron and Hermione were talking about only they understood it. They went to the small bridge, which went over the small stream and sat down. They sat there a while catching up on their breath and contemplating what had happened a few minutes ago.

Hermione managed to get the cloth, but her curiosity got the better of her. She actually started to head for the mother Veloron. Cuddles as Hagrid called it, Scaly its real name. Sufficed to say, when Hermione was a bit too close for the creature's comfort, it fired a small ball of fire. It missed her by a mile, but it was enough to make Hermione realise that she should not treat the situation lightly. When Hermione reached Ron's location, making sure to carefully avoid the fireballs, the two of them took off. 

" So what did you want to get that dinky lil cloth for?"

" I wanted to check something..."

" What?"

" Remember, the white cloth that the Veloron cage had on top of it, when Hagrid brought it out the first day we had our class with him?"

He did, so he nodded and said, " Yeah...so what?"

" Well, after the incident with the Neville fainting, Hagrid asked me to put a charm on it to make it stick on to the cage."

" So? ...Where are you going with this?"

" Yesterday when we showed up in class, the cloth was on the ground and Harry was in front of the cage."

" Ohhhh!... you mean he broke your charm?... He broke your CHARM!" exclaimed Ron. Harry being strong is one thing, but breaking another wizard's magic takes a lot of power. Specially, something that he was sure could not be removed using a simple "Finite incantem" spell.

" Either that or I did not word my charm properly." Ron looked at her astonished. Hermione had just admitted that done a spell wrong. It was almost as if christmas had come early for Ron. 

" But all your charms are done perfectly...aren't they?... I mean I remember trying to breakaway from the bodybind curses. I never managed to come close to it..."

" Dunder head, didn't you listen to what said?..I said I did not word my charm right. I did not say that I did not do the spell right."

" There's a difference?"

" Yes!... Wait!" said Hermione as she started to examine the cloth's every stitch and every stain.

" Just as I suspected..."

" What?" asked Ron very eager.

" Harry's magical powers are growing..."

" Really?" Ron was outraged, but he did an exceptionally good job of hiding it. 

" You know what else?"

" What?" asked Ron knowing he would regret asking the question.

" I think it's just the beginning... I think he's slowly becoming as strong as Voldemort...." Ron flinched, " oops"

" That's okay..." he said feeling queasy at the name, " How can you tell?"

" Look here..." she pointed to a small green stain on the towel. When Ron looked closely, it turned out to be a small green eye. It was eerie and it shimmered from time to time.

" What the hell is that?"

" It's the sign that the curse was broken forcibly... that's Harry's mark."

After lunch Hermione had Herbology and Runes class and after that she had her extra class of Muggle Studies. Most of the time that she had free, that day, she spent it reading the events that shaped the battle. Though this time there was a lot more interesting information, before she stumbled onto another long section of boring information. Some very interesting information came to light.

Things like how the author and Harry first met.

__

It had been a humid day. All day long I was expecting something big to happen. Nothing did. Nothing like what I was expecting anyway. I was sitting outside my house, when I saw a couple of local boys beating up another one. He was lighter in colour. He was desperately trying to fight back with what little physical fighting he knew. I knew the local boys, they went around and beat up people from the other clans and freemen. Normally I never took stock of what they did, the beating would never get any further than first blood. This one was different. As harsh as it seems, times were hard, and I did not get involved. 

He was a stranger in a strange land, and he was being literally killed on the footpath, because no one dared to speak up for a freeman. I approached the youths and told them to leave. The obeyed. They obeyed not because I was respected, but because they were afraid of me, I had never tried to help anyone getting beaten up.

This boy, though unconscious began to heal himself. Admittedly rather slowly and not very well. It is not uncommon ability amongst wizards and witches in Morocco, it's very rare anywhere else. The only reason he ever made it alive that day was his remarkable healing ability. When he awoke, he wanted to get out of the city and asked for the direction England was in. He said he had to get back there. He had a tone of voice that suggested urgency. I told him of the war raging on, he behaved as though he had first heard of it. It was not until much later that he asked me, whether I wanted to help him reach his destination, Cartova Mountain Range. He never told me why he needed to go there. Not in the time I knew him, close to a year, that is how long it took us to get there while avoiding battles...

I do admit that I would not have had done that if he had not paid me generously. But halfway through our journey I regretted the fact that I ever took the money. He was an enjoyable companion and a very good travelling mate. I paid him back every dime of the money before he left my side, to do something that made me proud that I taught him...

He captured Shozar Sebastian and brought about the end of a war lasting over five years.

As we progressed, I taught him how to defend himself. At first I had to get rid of the Tozan variation of the art.... the next few pages had a detailed comparison of how the Tozan and Shoran methods of Septanic Dueling varied._ (A/N: Though Hermione read through those with great enthusiasm, I won't elaborate.)_

Problems they had....

__

Harold had a nasty way of getting into trouble when we had to pass through a town. Something about him, drew people to him. Almost at the end of our journey, there was a lot of cases when, a certain girl would pay attention to him and a local boy thinking that she was his, would cause trouble for Harold. But his lack of attention to the girl was one thing that made me think for a while that he did not favour them. It turned out to be untrue, as he told me how his story. As it turned out that the girl he loved was in love with another. His rival and himself took part in a competition, in the boy died. He remembered that when he first found out, how he wanted his rival to be dead. But they had grown closer, helping each other. When he died, he gave up all hope of ever achieving love for that girl.

The more Hermione read about Harold, the more that she wanted to know. That night she used Harry's invisibility cloak to break into the library. She found all the books she could on this person. Hermione was very disappointed to find that there was very little information on Harold. She went back into her dorm room and fell sound asleep... well she had a dream but it was not unpleasant. (_A/n: No... not that kind..._) It was a dream of a world without the threat of Voldemort hanging over good people.

(A/N: The next part is kind of an anecdote... so I talk in it like I was talking directly to the reader... It's just much more humorous that way....................... I might remove this. Tell me if you want me to remove it.)

Jessica Abernithy, Romano Ketchka, Abby Somerset, Madhu Chopra and Serena Appleby were an odd bunch indeed. A Hufflepuff 6th year prefect, A 5th year Ravenclaw Prefect & Chaser, two seventh year girls and one 6th year Slytherin prefect, though had a lot of differences, they had put them aside to achieve one goal. They had devised a plan that involved two of them keeping the headboy occupied, while the other three retrieve the things that they wanted form the unconscious body of Harry Potter. It would have had worked too, if it had not been for Alicia showing up when she did, a few minutes before she was supposed to be there. They had managed to get take off all of Harry's clothes off, except for his boxers. Alicia had shown up, just when they were about to take them off.

I know what you are thinking... oh no another story with a Harry Potter fanclub. No, this was not the function of the club. They called themselves the scavengers... well they should have been called that. They had no name for themselves. 

If you worshiped the ground a person walked on, there was a lot of that happening in Hogwarts, and wanted to get a hold of their personal items (clothes, tooth brush and paste, shaving blades and things like that) for your personal shrine, these were the people to contact. 

As odd as it may seem, there were no school rules for stealing other people's clothes!

They had a variety of ways to obtain what they wanted, and at the moment there was a great deal of demand for anything that had been worn by Harry Potter. At the beginning of the TriWizard Tournament championship it was Cedric's clothes that were in hot demand. They had used one of Cedric's roommates, back then.

This was business, though all of them agreed getting a snapshot of a totally nude Harry Potter could be worth a lot of money to them. For this reason Serena had also brought along her camera.

" What the hell do you think you're doing?" yelled Alicia.

The girls had not expected Alicia to show up. Serena pointed her camera at Alicia and made it flash a few times at her. Disoriented and severely handicapped Alicia was in no condition to see anyone, let alone stop them from escaping.

" Get back here!... you...you..." said Alicia, before she started to firing random curses down the hallway, still blinded by the flash.

It took her several minutes to recover. In that time she used her wand to make it pour water, which she used then to keep washing her eyes. Once she was okay, she went to check on Harry. She was not sure, who the people she saw, but she knew that they were girls. * Must be his fan club * she thought.

Once she saw, that the girls had removed every, single piece of clothing off Harry, leaving him only in his boxers, she blushed furiously. She didn't think it was appropriate for her to see him like this, so she quickly covered him up with the blanket. Since Harry was with even less clothes than before she thought that she should get another blanket to compensate for that. So she went to the next bed and picked up the blanket from there and covered him up. 

Harry felt bruised and battered when he awoke early on Saturday morning. Sleepy eyed, he looked out of his bed. Early morning gave him the impression that it was still, the same day as when he had fainted. Without his glasses, he could not see clearly. He sat up on the bed with much effort, began to search for his glasses on the table next to the bed. From the corner of his eye, he saw a green blob appear at the doorway. It looked at him, and then headed for where Madam Pomfrey's office was. Harry guessed someone had come to get something looked at. Harry then started to think about what he remembered about his dream. Voldemort... Karakauff... Snape! (must be on some kind of mission...)... Professor Dumbledore and the painful lightning... Then he thought he remembered two voices talking, but he was not sure.

" ahme..." said a very feminine voice.

" huh? Who is it?" Harry squinted his eyes.

" It's me... Alicia"

" What are you doing here?...don't you have dinner now?"

" Dinner?" she laughed, " Why would I have dinner at six thirty in the morning?"

Harry looked out the wind and sure enough, he could see that the sun had risen a bit more in the sky.

" I slept for an entire day? Wow!"

Alicia giggled, " One day! No, you slept for two! All day yesterday and the day you fainted."

" By Merlin's beard! It must be Saturday now then! Todays' the Quidditch tryouts right?"

" Yeah... Hey! I brought some of your things for you."

" Presents?"

" err no..." she started to things out of her bag and put them on the table next to Harry's bed, " One trouser, one shirt, " she blushed and squeaked out the rest, "um... clean underwear...., toothpaste, toothbrush aaannnd..." the last word extended beyond what it was supposed to be, as she got something out of her bag. It was Harry's glasses. She unfolded them and put them on Harry. "... Your glasses."

" Thank..."said Harry, he felt a lump in his throat. 

He croaked out something that Alicia could just barely make out. Harry had politely asked her, why she had his glasses?, since the last time he remembered, he had them on before fainting. Alicia rather reluctantly told him about what had happened the day before. When she told him about being in his boxers only, he quickly checked under the blankets, to make sure, he was not missing that too. 

" Okay... I'll leave you to get dressed and then we'll take a walk. I already asked Madam Pomfrey, I suspected you'd want to leave as soon as possible. She wants you to come back and see her again in the evening... something about a last check up."

" Okay."

After Alicia went outside, Harry quickly went into the toilet. He wanted so much to find out what had happened in the time that he was asleep that he could not wait. In his hurry, Harry forgot his wand. He quickly retrieved the wand from the bedside cabinet and went back into the toilet. Before he did anything else, he made sure he got rid of the five o'clock shadow that he had acquired. He said a word and the tip of his wand glowed a purple colour, which changed to an orange when it made contact with Harry's face. As the tip glided over his skin the stables disappeared. Once fully dressed, he went out of the hospital wing with Alicia by his side.

" So, where do you wanna go?" she asked.

" I just want to walk a bit. I feel really tired. I think I haven't had anything to eat- did I?"

" err...no!"

" Oh... Okay, how about if we go to breakfast then. I think it's..." Harry looked to where his watch was. It was not there. " Well looks like I don't have watch. What time is it?"

Alicia checked her watched and said, " about seven. I think the hall is full now." She stopped and asked, " You sure you wanna go in? There's bound to be a lot of people there"

Harry thought for a second and said, " Yes! I'm very sure. I would have to face them eventually. Better now then later." 

When they entered the great hall, every pair of eyes was on the pair. After a full minute, in which time no one dared to even breathe, except for most of the Slytherins everyone there rushed to where Harry was. It was almost half an hour before Harry could have his breakfast. He answered a variety of questions regarding the incident. Everything from if and what he had dreamed to if it hurt, how bad, what he saw when he woke up. Harry was never so glad to see Professor Snape enter the great hall. He threatened to take of points from all the houses, which got the attention of all the house prefects. Alicia and the rest of them that were present busily moved the crowd back to their respective tables. Ron was the only person left there. Harry looked around for Hermione, but could not see her.

" She's not here yet." said Ron, correctly guessing what his friend was searching for.

" Oh!" Harry was disappointed and did not hide it. He had hoped that him being close to death she might have had been more receptive to him, but since she was not present, he couldn't be sure how she would react to him. Ron was happy to see his friend again, he took Harry's hand and shook it, as he clapped Harry's back.

" Let's have something to eat" said Ron, guiding Harry to the table.

" Yeah. We can catch up in while we're doing this"

" Okay... you'll love it. The houseelves have done something to these sausages... they taste even better they usually do."

Ron sat down on the opposite side of Harry on the table, while Harry took the seat next to Alicia. 

" So..." Harry looked expectantly at Ron, " What have I missed so far?"

" Well..." began Ron, " You missed the breakfast on Thursday, so I'm guessing you still don't know about Lee Jordan."

Harry was confused. He looked around the table and when he did not see him, he immediately assumed that something was wrong. " What happened? Is he ok? Did..Did Volde- I mean You-Know-Who get him? Was there an attack on..."

" Hey...hey!" said Alicia patting him on the back, " Relax. It's nothing serious-"

" Nothing serious!" exclaimed Ron, " I beg to differ. Snape has ousted him, from his commentating duties. The best commentator we've had for years...and now he's gone."

" It's a shame. Where is he? He must be heart broken." Asked Harry. Knowing that Lee had as much enthusiasm for the game, as anyone that he knew.

" He's been sulking around." Said Ron.

" Yeah, Right! He's been taking full advantage of the situation and he's getting anygirl who would listen to him, to comfort him. I think in the last two days he's managed to get himself dates until the end of this term." Said Alicia.

This information brought a smile to his face. " Ok... what else?"

" Well... remember, just before you fainted how Malfoy had hit Hagrid with that spell that made him fly backwards" 

Harry nodded.

" Well, he's been punished."

" How? Expelled?" Harry desperately hope that would happen.

" No..." said Ron, barely containing his laughter, "He's...He's ...."

Ron tried several times, but he could not finish the sentence because, he burst into laughter and started to roll around on the ground.

" What?" Harry asked.

Alicia came to Ron's rescue. " He's been punished to clean the Prefects toilets"

" So..." Harry really did not think that cleaning the prefects' toile was really that much of a punishment. 

" Well..." Alicia giggled, " Harry, He's been sentenced to clean the old prefects bathroom. Myrtle's been flooding that entire section of the castle since the middle of last year. She keeps saying something about a boy.... he has to clean the toilet..." Harry's face darkened slightly, before he heard that Malfoy had to clean the toile. He smiled, " with...with... I can't say it..." Alicia started to shake with laughter.

" Toothpick!" said Ron, taking a split second to finish off Alicia's comment, before he resumed his rolling on the ground. Harry burst into laughter as well. It was too much for him to keep his laughter in when he heard the word tooth pick.

Hermione had spent the last hour, before the breakfast, convincing Parvati to take part in the Quidditch tryouts. In the end, Parvati agreed, if only to shut up Hermione. When Hermione reached the great hall, flanked by Parvati and Lavender, she saw Harry. All the guilt that she felt suddenly overcame her mind and she forgot all about what she wanted to do. Apologise to Harry. She ran, leaving Parvati and Lavender wondering what was it that made her do this. Until they saw Harry, Ron and Alicia in a fit of laughter, it did not make sense to them. By the time they realised it, Hermione was long gone.

Harry saw from the corner of his eyes, Hermione, he stopped laughing. Alicia noticed this. She leaned closer to Harry, after she stopped laughing, and said, " Go after her. I think, she'll listen now."

" You think so!"

" I know so. If she doesn't tell her that, I said hello. She'll know what I mean."

" Huh?"

" Don't worry about it. Just go!" she urged him.

" Okay... Ron. I got to go..."

" Whatever..." Ron was still on the ground rolling with laughter. He did not even notice the strange looks that he was getting from the passing students.

The last time Harry had made the mistake of not looking in the library, this time he made it his first stop. Unfortunately, Hermione was not there. Harry quickly moved towards the Gryffindor common room. He went into his room and started to look for the 'Marauders Map'. He found it under his Invisibility cloak. 

* Odd... I remember putting it under the broomstick caring kit...* Harry stopped thinking about the fact that someone might have had used his cloak or the Marauder's map, when he saw the caring kit. It was a gift from Hermione and it reminded him of her. He whispered, " I solemnly swear that I'm upto no good."

The brown piece of parchment started to fill with lines and dots. He found the Dot named "H. Granger" in their transfiguration room, the room that only he and she could access amongst the students.

* Perfect place to be alone...*

Harry made the mistake of leaving the Marauder's map, which made it hard for him to navigate through the castle. When he reached the wall and said the password the room opened up in front of him, it had been already fifteen minutes. It was only by chance that Hermione had decided to stay in the same room. He saw Hermione was practising her stances for the tournament, from the door. There was a pile of books on the floor. Some of them were on Morocco and others were on Martial arts and wizard Dueling. He walked slowly towards her, before he found himself bumping into an invisible barrier. A shielding charm. Hermione's shielding charm might not have had been that powerful compared of Harry's, but hers was ingenious. It would take Harry a while to get through it, even though he could sense that only a very small fraction of Hermione's power was being used to sustain it. She could leave it up all day long and she would not be even weak.

" Hermione we have to talk-" started Harry, but she interrupted him.

" I don't want to." she said, as she pointed her wand at Harry and started to fire small fireballs directed all around Harry. They left scorch marks wherever they hit the wall, but Harry did not move at all when she did that.

" Hermione, do you want me to break through the shield and talk to you. Because I will."

" Try it! You can't break it."

Hermione was sure of herself, even though she had seen how he broke the seal on the charm that she had placed on the Veloron cage. Hermione focused more one the place where Harry was likely to attack and try and break through it. To her astonishment, Harry did not try to use any spells to break through it.

Harry walked right up to the shield, and started to push the barrier with his two hands. Hermione could suddenly feel pressure building up on herself. She knew not the reason that was happening. She knew not, what Harry was doing. She had to bring the shield closer to herself, so that the pressure that built up would be relieved slightly. She was so busy bring in the shield closer to herself and strengthening it, she did not realise how close Harry was, until they were almost nose to nose. Suddenly noticing Harry in front of her face, Hermione panicked and dropped the shield for a split second.

It was all the time Harry needed to pin her to the ground. " Now... Will you listen to me?"

" Lemme go!" she squirmed under him

" No. You have to listen to me." His voice conveyed his mood. Grim determination, " Please listen to me... it's important."

Hermione looked at Harry's face and she noticed something that she had not before. He looked just like...

" Oh! My God!... It's you isn't it?"

" Who? What?" his grip on her loosened. Hermione took the opportunity to try and free her arms and legs. It did not work. Harry had a hold of her that was almost impossible to break. Not unless Harry moved and he knew that. So he did not move.

" It's you... you're Harold! I can't believe that! You little..." Hermione searched for a name to call Harry, but she could not find anything.

" Oh that! Yes... That's what I was gonna tell you!"

" When?... after the end of the year... when we graduate?"

" No! On Wednesday. If you hadn't blown up on me, I would have had told you then!" Harry moved and let go of her, before standing up.

Hermione's face coloured.

" Look..." Harry said, offering his hand to her.

" Thanks." She said, as she took it.

" you're welcome... Look... I wanted to tell you from the beginning. I thought I was gonna tell you today on the first day back, but when I say how deeply you were thinking in history class, well I thought that I better tell you sooner than that. Then you get mad at me for beating you in Charms and then..."

" That's not why..." Hermione interrupted.

" Huh?" Harry was confused. He had thought Hermione was jealous of him. Though, if what he thought Hermione had meant, then that would mean Hermione was never jealous of him. This news was a welcome. But he had no idea then the real reason it could be then. 

Harry saw a brown flash, before Hermione clamped onto him, making it almost impossible for him to breathe. " Oof" he cried. When he got a chance at looking at her face, he was surprised to see that Hermione had a silent tear running down her cheek. They had gone slightly pink, because of how flustered she felt. He put his hand on her cheek and wiped the tear away. " Why are you crying?"

" Harry... please forgive me..." she looked up to his confused face.

" For what?"

" For getting mad at you... for pushing you to the ground... for making you think that I didn't like you as a friend anymore...for trying to make you break through the shield...for..."

" That's ok... I was never mad at you..." Hermione made a face at him, " Okay... just a little, but its okay now." He stroked her hair, before very unlike him he hugged her back. 

" No... that's not why I was really upset. You see Parvati explained it to me."

" She did..." said Harry, " It wouldn't be along the lines of you being in love with me would it" he said, wanting to avoid that are a discussion. He felt for her as the sister that he never had and besides there was Ron who really liked her. 

Hermione pushed Harry away, like suddenly he smelled of garbage, " No!..."

" Good. 'cause, I don't think I can go another year of that hanging over my head. Remember last year, after Rita's article...No offence, but I only like you as a friend"

" I'm heart broken!" Hermione faked being hurt, " No... it's because, I though you wouldn't need me to be you friend anymore. I was the one who always was the smart one in the group, and now that you could be just as well as me, I didn't think you'd like to be my friend anymore..."

Harry interrupted, " That's not the reason that I befriended you! When you go through something like what happened on that Halloween of the first year... you become friends. You can't help it. You've stuck by me at the end of that year and gave me strength to face Voldemort, granted that you would not have had been expelled because of your charms high mark, but you still took a chance with your life to help us. You were the one, who got petrified because, you figured out that the basilisk was the one hurting people. You were the one that was with me when we saved Snuffles and Buckbeak. But you did the most for me in my fourth year...

(A/N: You might not have had noticed it but I have avoided the words "last year" by Harry and in the narrative. It's because to Harry his fourth year was almost a year ago.)

" ...you were the only person, in the whole school, who believed that I did not put my name in the goblet. You believed me when the entire school didn't- wait, I said that already. You believed me when Ron didn't. Because of me you had to share the pain that I go through every time I have a dream involving Voldemort. Because of me you life is always in danger. I can't ask anything more from you, if I wanted to."

Hermione hugged him again. This time she didn't let go until Harry started to whiz, because of the lack of air.

" My life is not in danger because of you. If It weren't for you and Ron I would be dead and buried now. The shared nightmares... you have a very selective memory. You seem to forget that I told you that, it was a very small price for what I'm capable of doing now. By the way when are we gonna get to Astral out?"

"err... I've tried to do that several time, but It's really hard. I can't even get out of my own body. I'll try a lot harder from today... but it might be a while before we can do it again. Even after I can get out, I have to go to you room and then...."

Harry absentmindedly pushed Hermione's glasses (a/n: I completely forgot about them...) up her nose, as they were dangerously close to the end of her nose and ready to fall at a second's notice.

".. I have to..."

" I get the point Harry."

" Well, What do we do now?"

" You're telling me exactly want happened after you apparated with that horrid creature"

" it's pretty grim and there's a lot of blood and violence in there. You might not want to know about it..."

" I'm not a baby and... " Hermione stopped in the middle of her sentence and asked, " Harry?"

" Hmm?"

" how long were you in Morocco. The books vary. One says that you were there for three years and one says that you were there for only three months. How old are you now? How did you get past the two day limit on the time turners, how did you hide you scar, and ...."

" I'll start way at the beginning. Right after me met the Nundu. Is that ok?"

" Very..."

" Okay..." started Harry," It is one of those days. Not too bright, not to too dark. It was a day like any other, it was a day that I..."

Hermione interrupted, " Will you just get on with it?"

" Okay... Right after, I landed..."

A/N: Sorry guys... I seem to have written a lot but not enough about what happened in Morocco. All of the things that happened in Morocco (minus something that Harry does not tell, even Hermione... it's important and it's not going to be revealed as a few chapters to com)

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
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	36. CH 36: The Long Explanations 33 Last par...

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 36/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 36  
**Chapter Name:** The long Explanations... 3/3

" You're telling me exactly want happened, after you apparated with that horrid creature" Hermione shuddered as she remembered the very close-up of the feline creature that she had seen that night.

" It's pretty grim..." said Harry as he looked at her, judging whether he thought she would be able to listen to the horrid tale. " Not to mentions all the sheer amount of blood and violence in there. You might be better off not knowing the whole story..."

" I'm not a baby!" Hermione interrupted him. Harry was going to start the edited version, the version that left out all the violence that he had seen. But Hermione's strong opposition changed his mind. That and the fact that he was sure that Hermione would kill him if he missed out the details.

" Okay. But remember, it was your idea."

" I will." Her face had an expression of determination that Harry had seen only once before. And that was when she stuck next to him on the carpet heading towards the Nundu situation in progress. "Harry?" she asked.

" Hmm?" answered Harry absentmindedly, as he had been studying her expression. It was not a sign of the love that he felt for her deep dawn, somebody passing close by might have had thought, it was a sign of admiration, nothing more.

" How long were you in Morocco?" she asked, truly puzzled. The books were notoriously inaccurate and she wanted to know from the person who was there of the real time frame. Hermione even doubted the small red book that had made her interested in Harry's alter ego. Simply because some of the outrageous things that it had told of Harry's abilities. " The books vary. It ranges between three months to three years. I still can't believe how poor the record keeping was back in those days...anyway" she looked expectantly at Harry and said, " How old are you now?" Hermione was going to stop and wait for the answers, but she felt the dam in her mind break and a million questions flooded her brain. " How did you get past the two day limit on the time turners, how did you hide you scar, and..."

" Okay...okay. I get your point. I'll start way at the beginning, right after we met the Nundu." He said. " Is that ok?"

" Very..."

" Okay..." started Harry," It is one of those days. Not too bright, not to too dark. It was a day like any other, it was a day that I..." teased Harry.

Hermione interrupted, (" Will you just get on with it?"), as she could not wait to find out the details of Harry's adventure. There were so many unanswered questions regarding Harry or rather Harold that she wanted to get answered. She found half the information in the books to be very unbelievable. There was a lot of myths and distortion of the events in Morocco after his arrival. The only one that Hermione though had reliable information was by Professor Dippet, even then some of the things that Harry apparently learned while in Morocco, was hard for Hermione to believe. Like "Illui Mulcast" or as Harry referred to as, my thirteen brothers spell. It took an enormous amount of clarity of mind to do it successfully. 

" Okay... Right after, I landed in the cluster of wizards using lightning bolts..." Harry saw Hermione's mouth open. He knew what it was about, before she even was able to make a sound, and she told him off, Harry corrected himself, " I mean the Zeu spell..." he saw Hermione give him a triumphant smile. " –but, as you no doubt know, the more wizards perform the same spell at the same time, the more potent it was. When I suggested this, they ignored me. It was then Professor Dippet showed up and told them the same thing that they listened. He told them why they needed to do that. It was because a Nundu needs over..." 

"... a hundred trained wizards to subdue it." finished Hermione. 

It was an attempt by her to get all the details of things she did not know. Things she knew, she had no intention of hearing them from Harry again. He looked at her for a second. His eyes filled with a kind of mixture of respect and amazement. He said, " You are amazing. Did you know that?"

Hermione gave him a small smile.

Harry shook his head and continued, " Well, anyway, before he joined in on the fight, he told me something that did not make sense to me. Not until I went back in time. Do you know what he said?"

It was a rhetorical question. 

" He said, ' Not a problem, Mr. Potter. You have grown. I'm Professor Dippet. We'll talk more soon.' "

" Why would that be odd?" she asked scrunching her nose. Something Harry had recently learned meant that she was thinking about something that confused her.

" I never told him my name-" he began, but Hermione interrupted him.

" You are the most publicised figure in the last fifteen years and after coming to Hogwarts, it had only gone up in number. You're a celebrit- " Hermione stopped rigt in the middle of her sentence. Something had clicked in her mind. 

* Dippet... The same person that was with him in Morocco. All the way to Cartova Mountain....hmm* she thought.

" You mean... Professor Dippet. The same person who taught Harold...er...you..."

* my, this is really confusing* she thought to herself.

" Well, He's the person that taught you Septanic Dueling. Right?"

Harry nodded in agreement.

" That is very odd. How did he know where to find you? Did you tell him?"

" No... That's why it was odd that he showed up. I mean, it's not every day that you meet a person, who spent almost a year with you, before you ever knew they existed."

" Well, I really doesn't matter. Without him to question, we have nothing but ideas. They are pretty much the same as guesses."

" True...hmm...you want me to go with the story?"

" Yeah." Said Hermione as she moved closer to Harry.

" Well," Harry began, " We had about a hundred wizards chanting 'Stupefy', when you decided to help one of the injured wizards. I don't think you even noticed that we had been driving the beast towards your direction. Things were a bit hazy after that. It took me quite a while in Morocco to figure out exactly what had happened on that night."

" First, I felt this panic wash over me when I saw the Nundu lunge at you. I felt sick and then, suddenly, everything slowed down to a crawl. Remember the runes, I told you that I see every time, I did the healing spell one you. Well, I saw them in here, there were hundreds of them. I could see the one line of runes scroll vertically up inside my eyeballs. My mind seemed to be searching for something. What I didn't know. It found it. Well, three of them to be exact. Every time it found a rune that it wanted, It would jump out of the vertical line and move to one side. When the third runes was found, it combined with the other two and I saw a brilliant white flash as then burst, filling me with their power."

" I screamed something to the effect of ' No! I won't let you take Hermione!' and ran right to the to the beast. Next thing I know I'm where we watched the griffins..."

Harry told her about what happened after he materialised close to the Griffin's nest. But before he did, he chanced a glanced at her. She was sitting on the floor, like him but was using her two hands to hold up her head, as she leaned forward on her thy. " Go On!" she urged him, holding back tears in her eyes.

" It was disorienting..."  
The peaceful night, for the griffins, was shattered by the very loud booming noise. It was the shockwave generated by Harry and the Nundu apparating about five kilometres away. At first, the mother thought that something was going to attack her and her children, so focused all her. But her powerful night vision allowed her to see clearly the cause of the loud noise. She could make out a feline creature and a human very clearly. Food, her hungry body cried, though she ruled out the human as a prey. Her senses also informed her that the human was a wizard and her experience told her that the wizard was exceptionally strong. She knew that it would be very foolish for her to attack someone like that. Her youngest cub was not that experienced. The Griffin launched off its nest and let out a hunting cry that sent chills down the spine of creatures that live in the desert. They knew what that cry meant.

Harry apparated about five kilometres from nest. The beast was confused at the sudden change of scenery and it felt disoriented. It did the only thing it could do to protect itself from an attack that was non existent. It lashed out in all direction, two of which had come very close to Harry. Harry had saved himself only because of his luck and a bit of fast moving. But he was also disoriented and his mind was till recovering from a powerful migraine, which was the result of transporting something like the creature with him. 

Harry did not manage to be lucky a third time, when the sharp claws swiped at him. It ripped though his belly, making him scream in pain and agony. Hurt, he clutched his, now soaked in blood, robes to his wound and used his wand to fire stunning spells continuously, until he saw something block the light of moon overhead. The creature in front of him, though massive in its own right, was nothing compared to the griffin. He recognised the hunting cry from his and Hermione's observations. He did not know that the mother had excluded him from the list of preys. He hobbled over to behind a large boulder. No sooner he had managed to hide himself there, the griffin swooped down from the sky and pounced on the smaller feline beast.

Harry watched from the relative safety of the boulder, as the mother easily overwhelmed the Nundu. Harry saw the silhouette of the mother, let out a final hunting cry and clamp down on the neck of its prey. Harry had been too engrossed in the situation unfolding in front of him, and had missed one small noise behind him. But he did not miss the second one. Harry turned amazingly fast, considering the amount of grief his wound was giving him.

In the dim moonlight, he saw, for a split second, a baby griffin lunge at him. Almost instinctively, Harry put up his left arm to protect himself. The baby griffin, though small, had a very strong jaw. Fortunately for Harry, when the creature bit him, it bit onto the magical watch. The magic trapped inside it leaked out into its mouth, sending waves of pain through its body. Thought it did not last long, it gave Harry enough time to retaliate against the young but deadly creature. He pointed his wand at the baby griffin's mouth and fired a freezing spell. 

Griffins, leaving in the desert, were accustomed to the cold temperatures of almost equal harshness as the high temperatures during daytime. But the freezing spell was a lot colder than normal temperature of the desert during the night and the babies, being as young as it was, were not used to such extreme temperature changes. Harry had picked up that much from watching the griffins and his many talks about the creature with Hermione.

Scared and afraid for it's life, it did a combination of run, jump and fly to get away from there as soon as possible. Before long it was beside its mother and by another older Griffin, which he recognised from its behaviour, as the sister to the one that had attacked Harry. From the many long talks he had with Hermione, on the behaviours of the Griffins, he had learned that the daughters usually learn her maternal tasks by imitating its mother.

The pain forgotten, Harry watched almost hypnotised by the gruesome scene in front of him. He felt sorry for the creature a split second, before coming to the conclusion that the amount of humans killed during that nights attack was needless and the beast deserved what it got. It still shook him inside to see that happening. He looked up from the carcass that was, slowly but methodically, being ripped to shreds to see into the eye of the Griffin. It was not one of the cubs, who Harry had decided he could handle. It was the mother, who stood three times taller than her cubs. Suddenly it came to him that he was very vulnerable to attack by the Griffin. He started to look for anything that might give him shelter.

It seems the pain wanted to make it's self know to Harry once again to make him look for a safe shelter faster. " Merlin!" Harry gritted through his teeth in pain. The mother Griffin had stopped paying attention to Harry, but this did not mean that she would not try to kill him, thought Harry. 

It seems luck was with him once again that night, as he found a cave very close to where he was. It was small and hard to get into, specially considering his wounds. He managed to get inside the cave, and create a fire, before he fell asleep from exhaustion. His bleeding had continued for the next hour that he slept. When he would regain consciousness again, an hour later, he would be very weak.

Thought the pain was unbearable and his body felt drained, Harry knew that his only chance of survival was to perform the healing spell that he used often on Hermione. He had tried to use it once, when the injuries were no where near as severe and under better conditions, but found out very quickly it was almost impossible to keep both his mind focused on the wound and cast the spell.

It is true of what they say about being close to death, humans, be they muggle or magical, they transform themselves, even if it is only temporary. They change from ordinary beings into beings capable of performing extraordinary tasks. Harry would not have been able to heal himself, had it been under any other situation. It took a great amount of concentration and clarity of mind to do what he did. He simultaneously tried to forget about the pain, but look at the wound and cast the spell and keep the warm and tingly sensations from overwhelming his mind and disrupt his spell. It took several attempts, before he finally managed to heal himself. 

Exhausted from the spell, he fell asleep once more. This time he slept right through the night. But not before realising what Hermione felt, every time he had performed the spell on her. He realised, why her eyes would go out of focus and why every time her cheeks became pink. Harry did not think it was a wise idea for him to do that again without her permission like he had done before.

Harry did not tell Hermione about what he realised after using the spell on himself. He didn't want to bring it up. Not just yet.

" I can't believe how stupidly I behaved!" said Hermione, making Harry snap out of what he had been thinking, after he had paused for a second to begin the next phase of his story. Harry looked over to where she was sitting a moment before, to find she had shifted from her position. She was hugging her knees to her chest and crying. To Harry, it looked like she had been crying for a while now. Silently but surely. There was a rather big wet patch where her face rested on her knees. He felt like an idiot for not noticing when she had started to cry.

Trying to make it up to Hermione, he moved closer, before enveloping her in a hug. " Why are you crying?" he asked, softly.

Her face buried in his chest, she cried some more, before answering his question. " Because..." she said in between sobs, " you risked your life for me...and what did I do?" she looked up briefly, before going back to crying. " I had a fight with you, thinking you didn't want to be friends anymore. I was so stupid!"

" Hey!" said Harry, " You weren't stupid!" said Harry rather loudly.

Despite how she felt, Hermione could not help but snort at the way Harry had defended her terrible action, directed towards him, to her. It brought a temporary smile to her face, but it was gone soon. 

Harry continued, " Your marks should tell you that. And as for your behaviour, well, I really can't say I know why you did that. If, it was indeed because you thought I didn't need you as a friend, then I would have had expected you to try and find a million things that I would need your help with." Hermione would have had said something to defend herself, had she known what she could have, but she need not have. Harry continued, " But, if the summer with you taught me anything, it's, I can't think of you as a bookworm or a bossy little girl. There's much more to you than meets the eye and I'll be damned if I loose you as a friend, before I find them all out."

Hermione started to cry even more after what Harry had said. It was not because, what he said hurt or made her sad, no, it was because it was a great complement. Even after how she had behaved towards him, he was so kind and forgiving that it just made her feel even worse. When she finally got a hold of herself, five minutes later, she said, pulling slightly away from Harry's comforting and reassuring embrace, " I'm sorry for getting your shirt wet" referring to the massive wet spot in his chest.

" It's quite okay." he said smiling, but still looking very worried for the girl in front of him. Harry pulled her back into the embrace and said, " Are you feeling a bit better now?"

Hermione just nodded against his chest, since she did not trust herself to speak, fearing she'd breakdown again. Against what she felt, a smile broke onto her face. Harry slowly loosened the embrace and brought up his hands to her chin. He cupped her chin, before lifting it so that he could see her eyes. He spoke softly to her, " You okay to hear the rest of the story?"

Hermione nodded.

" Good." Harry let go of her totally, but sitting shoulder to shoulder, he asked, "Any questions?"

Hermione did have a question to ask, but she was not sure if she should ask him. But knowing, her friend to be very understanding made it easy for her to ask the question. The question she wanted to ask him since she heard that Harry had acquired the scars on his stomach because of her. " Can ...Can I see the scar?" she stammered out, "... I mean if that's okay with you."

It was an odd request, but Harry knew Hermione just wanted to see how much damage had been done to him rather than gawk at him, like most of the girls in school. He, like all the other guys in school, caved the attention, the opposite gender sometimes provided. But Harry hated the fact that it came mostly because of his fame and more recently, because of his physical appearance. Most of them had never even talked to him to find out what kind of a person he really was. Stuck in past, Harry realised, he was no better than all those girls that had started to follow him around, for he had felt the same way about Cho Chang. She was a person, he had talked to only once or twice in the four years he had been in Hogwarts, yet he had the biggest crush on her.

There in the desert, he figured out that even if Cedric had survived or not been in love with Cho, he would never be able to have a relationship with Cho. Simply because he had never had enough nerve to ask her about herself, for that matter even talk. Harry had learned from his mistake in his crush with Cho. Since realising his crush (*maybe more* thought Harry) on Alicia, he had done every thing possible to make sure that he did not fall into the same trap, as he had done with Cho. 

That's why, Harry was so happy about his talks with Alicia, who he found to have a lot in common with him, even if she was two grades above him. The age factor mattered less to him then it would to everyone else who did not know about Harry being in Morocco's past. So far, only one person knew of that.

Harry stood up and very slowly, because he was shy of showing off his body, and started to pull out his shirt where it had been tucked inside his trousers. Harry had worn nothing under his clothes, so it became visible almost instantly. Harry did not take his shirt off totally, instead he just lifted enough to show her the scar. Though Hermione had seen the scar on the way back to Hogwarts on the train, she had not paid much attention to Harry's scar, as she was busy revelling in the fact that, he was not dead.

Three thin diagonal gouges that stretched across his belly made up the biggest scar that Harry had. Hermione shivered, as she lightly grazed the scar with her hand, thinking of the amount of pain that Harry must have had gone through. And it was for her that it had happened to him. Harry shivered a bit himself, because it felt ticklish to him. She asked, " Did it hurt? ...I mean, did it hurt much?"

Harry did not bother to tuck in his shirt, as he sat back down next to her, " It hurt a lot..."

Harry was honest. He did not want to lie to her. Harry knew that Hermione liked things properly measured. She always liked to categorise things in one order or another. This allowed her to judge things that happen to her, with more objectivity and fairness. " It wasn't as bad as the Cruciatus curse, but then again very few things are. It lasted a long time, which, in my opinion is much worse than the unforgivable curse. I still can't believe I managed to do a deep healing spell on myself. It was hard enough to do it to you..."

Harry noticed, from the corner of his eye, Hermione's face suddenly turned bit to the far wall. Harry gave a small smile, when he saw her cheeks had a slight pink tinge to them. " -I think, because my life literally depended on it, I did manage to do it. I doubt, I would be able to do it again."

Harry looked towards her and asked, " Didn't you wonder, how I knew what it felt to have that healing curse performed by me? Especially after the Dueling demonstration, when I told Ron about you holding onto the table not because of pain, but the tingles that you felt?" 

Hermione still refused to look at Harry's direction as he said this, but her face coloured more than even she thought was humanly possible." ermm...no" Hermione's voice was at best squeaky.

" Hermione Granger preferred ignorance!" exclaimed Harry. He had no idea that she being the top student of Hogwarts and the most devoted bookworm the school had ever seen, would prefer not to know how her friend knew something's that he otherwise should not.

" It's too embarrassing to think about." She said in her defence, but kept her face firmly to facing the wall in an effort to escape the embarrassing topic. Harry wasn't quite finished with the topic, as yet, so he kept going. 

Harry smiled at her embarrassment and said, " After finding out, what exactly it felt like to have the curse on myself, I don't think I'll do it so willy-nilly like I've done before. That's why I asked your permission to do the curse, back then. Surely, it must have had aroused suspicion in you?"

" No." Said Hermione, her face still facing the other direction and still very much pink, " Most of the time after the healing spell, it was hard for me to keep my mind straight." Even as she said it, Harry could see that Hermione's eyes were focused firmly on the most interesting shaped scorch mark. It had been there since her little firefight with Harry. " It's too embarrassing to think about..."

Harry took the hint that she did not really want to talk about that particularly embarrassing issue. He decided that he was going to go back to telling the story when Hermione asked him another question, most likely because she thought he was going to go on about that topic. After all, she did read in books that boys thought of sex, atleast once every three minutes.

" How did you go to the past?"

" Answer to that question, brings me to the second part of the story..."   
When Harry awoke, the next morning, he found himself in blood soaked clothes. It took him a while to remember what had happened to him the day before. When he did remember, he quickly took off all his clothes and started to clean them using scrubbing charms. Harry had never thought his knowledge of scrubbing charms would ever come in handy. He remembered, all the while he did the homework, he had cursed himself for choosing such an obscure topic to do the essay on. 

Ron had been rather clever and chosen his essay on 'Handy Charms for Busy Wizards', something he could most of the tips from Bill and Charlie. Hermione had chosen to do research on the Aurors, but he did not have any books from which he could have had done that assignment, so Harry had chosen to do something that he thought would be quite simple. Kitchen charms. It was simple enough, as he had thought he had to find spells that could be used in kitchen to help along the process of maintaining and cleaning of the place. Only after he had chosen to do the topic, did he find out that he had to think and state reasons a charm might be dangerous.

Harry, himself, was rather surprised at how well the charms worked the first time, especially since he neither tried to use them before. The blood and the dirt started to disappear quickly enough, though there was still a lot to be desired from the finished product. As Harry set about putting the almost new clothes back on himself, he thought that if Hermione was there, she would have had been able to make them shine like new. He would also know that she would have been able to mend them as well. 

Harry then thought, he should have had read up the books up to mending charms for the busy wizards on the go, like Hermione had asked him to. Just before they left, Hermione had gone a bit insane and started to panic. He made a mental note not to take Hermione's advice on what to study lightly.

Harry did a last minute check to see if his wound was not making opening up. He grimaced at the thought that people would want to see his new scars just as much as his lightning shaped one. 

He slowly made his way to the mouth of the cave, wand ready, to find nothing of predatory nature waiting for him. It took him a while to be convinced enough to get out of the cave. Courage he had, but the events from the day before had made Harry very cautious. He was certain he would not fare well against a fully-grown Griffin, so he was being careful not to get himself in a situation that would endanger him.

Harry used a four point to determine the Southeast was. He knew that that was the direction that the city lay, since he remembered that the exact opposite was where the Griffin's nest was.

When the realisation hit that he would have to go past the Griffin's nest he contemplated his option. He knew how to pour water out of the end of the wand, so there was not a chance of him dying from the thirst. But there was the fact that he would have to get past a magical beast to consider and this beast had single-handedly managed to do what over a hundred fully-grown wizards could not. The thought in itself was terrifying, but the images of the way the creature had so quickly killed the Nundu, still fresh in his mind, just added to his anxiety. Harry estimated that it would take him a day to travel, what on the carpet only took a few minutes. Harry thought of using the summoning spell, to get his Firebolt, but he knew that was impossible, as he did not know that how to make the spell to work over very long distances.

Harry went back inside the cave and practised all the curses that he knew, to make sure that he was prepared for the griffins, if they attacked him. It was almost night-time, when he was satisfied. He slowly crept along the valley floor towards the city. 

Harry need not have had bothered, since the griffins being the smart animals that they were, had decided that it was too risky for them to stay in that place, as more humans were bound to come looking. So they had abandoned their nest, fearing that they would be killed because of the apparent danger to the Human.

" When I reached where the dead body of the Nundu, something very odd happened."

" What?" Hermione was sitting shoulder to shoulder to Harry before. Now she started to rest her head on his shoulder. Harry didn't mind. In fact, as he was saying the rest of the story, his mind was comparing the smell of her hair to find out what it exactly smelled like.

" Well..."   
Harry looked at the carcass of the Nundu, covered in dry blood, and thanked Merlin that it was not him that was lying there in that condition. His prayer was interrupted, when a white glowing orb, no bigger than a tennis ball, appeared behind him and started to flash. Harry tuned around to see that the orb was expanding in between the narrow valley walls. Suddenly when the orb had expanded to half his height, lighting erupted from the flat it's sides hitting the valley walls, making rocks and loose rubble fall from where it had been hit. When it finished expanding, Harry could see that it had formed into an oval shape. Very much like a full body mirror, but instead of the mirror in the centre, it held as a watery surface, that was seem to have diffused light coming from the other side.

" What the hell!" he exclaimed, as he approached the object. What happened next was even more astounding than when the object had appeared.

" What happened?" Hermione asked, taking her head off his shoulder and sitting up in rapt attention in front of him.

" Well..."   
The watery surface of the portal rippled, as a human being emerged from the portal. It would not have had been so surprising to Harry, since he had not see all the modes of travel in the magical world, he had assumed that it was just another one of them. 

But the person was him, albeit looking different, Harry could tell that it was him. He just did not understand how he knew it. The Harry from the portal said, " Mountains of Cartova is where your destiny lies. Fulfill it."

It would have been very okay with Harry, if the discussion had stopped there, but he did not want for what happened next. The Harry from the portal whispered something that Harry could not tell, and a staff appeared. Then an unknown spell was cast on the unsuspecting Harry, making him right fly into the portal.

It trip took a fraction of a second, but instead of appearing where he was supposed to, Harry appeared on the other side of portal, three feet about the roof of an abandoned house on the outskirts of city Dripen. The capital where Mr. Pasha lived was on the other side of the country. 

The fall hurt, but not nearly enough to cause Harry discomfort. For long anyway. The abandoned house had some provisions (dried food and some bottled water) and old maps of the area, which came in handy for Harry. He found the nearest town and started to head for that area. Harry had rationed his food supply, but he ran out of food and water by the time the city was within his sight. He collapsed only a few minutes from the watering hole.

He did not know it, but he was seen by a few of the local Shoran youths eager to get some war experience for themselves. They dragged Harry back into the city, and started to say things to the effect of punishment for the freemen drinking the water of Shoran clan was death. They weren't going to be lenient on Harry and use a death curse. Not because they were afraid of using it, but they were too young to cast it. It was then an elderly man intervened.

" Professor Dippet?" asked Hermione.

" Yes."

" What did he do?" she asked, wanting verification of the things that she had read in the book.

" Well for one thing, he took care of me that night. In the morning, I went to the city and then to a wizarding bank branch. In the morning he gave me some food. I learned to cook from him. Well then..." he was however interrupted by Hermione.

" You know how to cook!" it was an astounding new discovery for Hermione. 

She had not told anyone, but she had tried to cook meals using wizarding ways. She had thought to herself that, being a witch would not leave her time to cook in the muggle way. And she was adamant that she would never get a houseelf, unless they were free and were paid. Her foray into that area of magic was even worse than her venture into flying. 

* May be he'll teach me how to make the food* thought Hermione. 

If it were anyone else, Hermione would have had a lot of problems, just for thinking that. But he was different. She remembered how nice he was with her, when she could not do the Automatic page turning charm. Not only in Morocco, but before it too. She remembered their flying lessons and how gentle, encouraging and enthusiastic he was.

" Yeah, but I'm nowhere as good as Professor Dippet. He could make food that makes my mouth water just from thinking about it. Just eating magical food has its disadvantages, but I'm sure you know about that already." said Harry.

Hermione did in fact know about them. Magical food can be prepared with two types of ingredients. One is the pure magic, involving transfigured objects. The other is using real animals and vegetables and cooking them. The down side to using the pure magical methods was that you had to be really good in transfiguration. But that was not the only one of the disadvantages. The other was that food created that way had only taste and very little in the way of sustenance. Most witches, including Mrs. Weasley, choose to use a combination of both the methods.

" Yes. I know. What can you make?"

" Well... Lets see three things like I told Alicia." Hermione's head perked up at the name of Alicia. 

It was becoming increasingly obvious to her that Harry liked Alicia. Well, she knew he liked her, but it was more obvious now that, Harry's crush on Alicia was a bit more than a crush. Hermione knew that though Harry and Alicia both liked each other, she could not say anything to Harry. As she was likely to wind up as Malfoy's date to the ball. 

" Bread... that took me almost seven months to get right. I still have occasional problems with the transfiguration, but the easiest thing I can make is fried chicken and ice cream. But the Ice cream, I've shown everyone that I can do."

Harry stopped and looked at her and asked, " You haven't had any thing to eat in the morning. So do you want something? You'll still need to have some real food, but it'll keep your hunger at bay from a few more hours."

Hermione did not need to ask Harry to teach her how to cook the things that he could cook. As he was doing the magic, he told her what to do and how to hold the wand, how to move it and what to say. The food was not really cooked by Harry, rather it was getting Hermione to do all the magic. In all her cooking that Hermione tried before, she could get the main transfiguration right, but she never managed to learn how to add correct ingredients and when to add it right. She had thought to get a magical cooking book before summer started, but since she didn't go to the burrow and in the hurry to pick up Harry from the Dursley's she forgot to buy any extra books. She did find that odd once she was back at Diagon Alley, but forgot about it quickly when she and Harry got into a routine at her house.  
Regulating how to control the spice flow turned out to be very simple, and it took only a few minutes for her to master it almost as good as Harry. He made a big deal of how long it had taken him to get that part of the spell right and how little time it took her. Harry commented frequently that she was very good at cooking and should take it up once she gets a chance. When he said she was almost as good as Professor Dippet, she had a hard time believing that, though she blushed furiously at the long list of complement that kept coming at her.

The art of Magical cooking was simple enough and it came to women much easier then men. It was something that Merlin has put in his spell to allow access to magic, with the permission of Mauve.

" Thanks." She said.

Harry had the final cooked food in front of him. " Here have some.." said Harry, before he cut the fried chicken using his knife and very enthusiastically, shoved it into her mouth. Hermione did have to admit that it was indeed very good, but she would never say that. She was a bit disappointed that she didn't get to taste the food that Harry could cook, but she was grateful to Harry for helping her. She was also disappointed that Harry had not cooked a bit of book himself. * I could have had compared it to Harry's.* she thought.

" You said a few minutes ago, it took seven months to get the bread done properly. How long were there then?" she asked

" I was there ... let's see..." Harry counted off his fingers until he had all ten of his fingers up. " Just a bit over ten months."

" So that's why you seem so old?"

" Huh?" came his confused reply.

" From the time you came back... well, you seemed older. I couldn't put my finger on it, but now I do."

" Oh... that. I grew a whole six inches...that's half a foot...come to think of it, don't tell you didn't notice that I was a five inches taller in two days. Didn't you think it was odd?"

Hermione looked embarrassed. She and the rest of the school had over looked the very obvious. He had grown to six feet two inches, the tallest he could ever be because of his gift. 

Hermione had been rather different. The gift was not supposed to change her physically, but it did. It and puberty hitting her body had resulted in her going from five feet five inches to her current height of five feet eight. A whole one inch taller than both of her parents. 

" Well, that plus my experiences..." continued Harry, "...speaking of which, you keep eating and I'll tell you the rest of the story."

" Okay." Said Hermione, as she ripped of a bit of bread that she had cooked. It tasted a bit dry and though the chicken was okay. Hermione realised why exactly Harry had more trouble making the bread magically then the chicken, which at first glance would seem a lot harder to cook.

" Well the..." Harry had just started, when Hermione thought of a question.

" How come you looked so different in Morocco? I mean... what did you use to hide you scars. You would have had a fair few by the time you went through the portal. Was it makeup? Did the spell that your future-self cast, hide the scar, or did you use a spell to hide it yourself. I mean I would understand if you did. People were bound to be furious with you for impersonating a child of only..." she thought for a split second, " three..." it seemed to Harry that she was doing calculations in her head again, " no ...two years."

" No!" objected Harry loudly to the fact that Hermione had thought that he had used makeup. " Nothing like a spell and certainly not Makeup."

" Okay..." she said, " what about your eye colour. Books don't go much into your physical description and the only person who was with you in Morocco, did not go into your eye colour. It looked..."

" Blue?" finished Harry.

" Yeah..."

" Well, my future self used a staff to cast the spell on me..."

"Staff?" Hermione exclaimed. 

" You know... wand device. That's what I used to do magic in Morocco..."

" I know what a Staff is!" Hermione sounded indignant, " Where is it?"

" Oh that?"

" Do you want to see it now or later when I..." Harry was going to tell her that, when the get to the part of Harry's meeting with Professor Dippet in the past. As it was a gift from him. But Hermione was impatient."

" Now!"

Harry stood up and moved a few steps back away from Hermione. Harry extended his wand arm and just said the words, " Tevel Sho'ka". (Meaning: to me my staff)

In his palm, a golden light appeared in the form of a small ball. It changed its brightness slightly to an invisible rhythm, before it started to grow in opposite directions, from the middle. As it grew, it started to solidify from the middle. Hermione thought it was unnaturally straight for a staff. There were no kinks in it like the ones that the picture of Merlin had in them, but she liked the way it looked. It had a small emerald green stone on the top, held there with what looked like a claw. Few seconds after it appeared in Harry's hand, it sent a white coloured surge of electricity though him, atleast something that danced on his body like electricity.

Hermione was shocked at what had happened next. The surge went fr0m his wand arm to his torso, it removed the clothes, and replaced them with the battle costume that Hermione recognised from the book cover of 'Tale of a saviour'. Two things happened next, which explained a lot of question that Hermione had, but it also added a few more.

The first thing Hermione noticed was that when the surge went past his eyes, they changed colour to a vivid blue. Almost a glowing blue/purple colour, before the surge reduced Harry's hair in length, revealing the scar on his forehead. 

The question about why Harry's eye colour in Morocco was different in the picture was now answered.

Second thing that Hermione noticed was that a tattoo on Harry's chest became visible. It was just like the one that Ali Pasha had, only different. While the clan tattoos had one arrowhead pointing up and the other down, Harry's was horizontal and both pointed away from the circle. It was also different in colouring than the other ones, which were of one colour. Harry's was different in that his had very dark green, almost black circle and had one arrowhead was red, while the other one was blue. The question of what Hermione saw on Harold's chest on the book cover had been answered. 

Harry really wished his staff would not change his clothes to what he was wearing now, almost nothing from waist up. He could not help but start to blush because of it. Hermione looked admiringly at Harry. Not his muscles, nor his trim athletic and toned body, but at the amount of practise it must have had taken Harry to master the staff.

" Wow!" she said in awe, " How long did it take you to master the staff?" that is as far as her knowledge on staff went. Before long that day she would learn a few more.

" About two month" he replied.

" What did you use before that?" asked Hermione. Since that would meant that Harry had to use something in the mean time (atleast three months) to do magic.

" Professor Dippet had an old wand..." he did not say that the wand he found was on a dead body of a Tozan warrior, left to die from a chest wound. " It wasn't that good...truthfully, it was terrible. Sometimes the spell wouldn't cast at all, but it was something. It helped me defend myself. The Staff however is very nice. It's almost as good as my wand, but I think is because I still haven't mastered the staff well yet."

" Why didn't you just go and buy a wand. I though..."

" I told you there was a war on, and it was about three months before I got close to a place where I could buy a proper one, by that time Professor Dippet had given me the staff."

Harry noticed Hermione still staring at him. It was making him uncomfortable. " Can I?" she asked.

" Can you what?" he still had not realised that she was not staring at him. She was staring at the staff. 

" Can I see the staff?" Hermione held out her hand. Harry didn't hesitate before he placed it on her hand. The colour of the stone changed to a red. It glowed once before it went back to the emerald green stone.

" It approves of you!" says Harry.

" Is that what that meant?"

" Yeah... Only people who are trusted by the owner of the staff can change the colour of the stone."

" I didn't know that-"

" Really?" Harry didn't think there was a topic that Hermione had not read a book on.

" It's not in any of the books that I've read so far. I have yet to read a book on wand devices."

" That's no excuse Hermione" Harry said, imitating something that Professor McGonagall would say, if he had forgotten his homework, " It means we must start to astral out very soon, so that we can get you memorising all the books in the library."

Hermione did not say it, but for once she wished there were not so much magic in the air. First her watch, which was a present from her mother, blew up (before she read Hogwarts a history) in her first year. Now, in her fifth year, she couldn't go to the library and read all she wanted to, because of all the magic in the air that prevented and made it difficult for Harry to astral out.

Hermione gave the staff back to him, after she examined the writing on the side of the staff. A whispered word from Harry and the staff disappeared from his hand. Once the staff was gone, Harry turned back to normal, though Hermione could see that Harry's eyes had a eerie glow to them.

" How come your scars were sill there? I thought, your staff was why, the scars did not appear in the picture of you on that book cover."

" I only figured it out after I left Morocco and was back here. It's nothing more than a theory, mind you, but it's something. I think it's because, neither the griffin, nor the Nundu had been born yet. I'm not a hundred percent on what happened to my lighting scar, but I think the protection belonged to me all the way in London then myself, so the scar wasn't there. And since Voldemort had not been resurrected the scar on my right arm (where Wormtail took blood from Harry) was not visible. I think I'll get to the story... did say how I wound up going to Cartova mountains instead of capital of Morocco, where it would have been easier for me to catch a flying carpet shuttle to England?"

Hermione nodded a no.

" Well, from the beginning I wanted to go to England and sort out the matter of Wormtail and Sirius. I had a nagging feeling that it would do me no good. You and I both know that time can't be changed. Like me and the Shozar War. I shaped the course of history, without knowing it well myself. Just like how I saved myself from the Dementors in our third year... I tried to do whatever I could. I spent over a thousand Galleons sending owls to Professor Dumbledore and the minister of Magic. I sent several personal messengers, but each seemed to disappear after taking the money... I sent a hundred OWL posts to Cedric's parents warning them, not to let their son enter the TriWizard Tournament..." a silent tear ran down his cheek. " ... I tried so hard..." Harry was wiping his face furiously and did not finish the sentence.

" I only stopped when I got a message from my future self. It said, 'we met at the valley, near the Nundu, Stop doing what you are doing and go to Cartova Mountain. It's a matter of life and death of a lot of people.' I didn't exactly know what I was supposed to do, but I learned little by little what it was that I had to do. 

As we moved to the other side of the country, Professor Dippet and I avoided, town, and people when we could. He was a very good transfiguration teacher, but he told me that even the best transfigured meal could feed a person for a few days, after it looses it's affect. It was about eight months into me being in the past, when I realised what I was supposed to do in Cartova Mountains. I was supposed to capture Shozar Sebastian."

Hermione used her wand to clean her hands off the food that she had just had and started to listen with more attention than before, if that was even possible.

" That's when I actively started to try and stop the war. It wasn't until then, I saw dead bodies... murdered, maimed and killed. There were few like that, since the war was about power and wiping out the enemy was not the objective. Subjugation was. I still can't believe that after all that, after all the famous warriors on both sides died, the two clans agreed to piece."

Hermione saw Harry start to cry. She lunged at him and hugged him tight and said, " It wasn't you fault." Hermione had guessed correctly that Harry blamed himself for not trying to find Shozar Sebastian before that. " It was..."

" No! Don't ever say that! You couldn't have had known. You were trying to go to Cartova Mountains for a long time. Even before you knew what to do there. If it were not for you, that country would still be in war. They probably would have had wiped themselves out." Hermione pulled back slightly and said, as she wiped away his tears, " You saved an entire country. You should be proud."

Hermione pulled away more, and sat back down next to him. She reached over to him and guided his head to her shoulder. " You can tell me rest of the story, when you feel a bit better."

The stayed like that for a long time.

Finally when Harry had collected himself, he began again. He took his head off her shoulder and said, " Hermione, I have to tell you something."

" What?" Hermione gave him a warm smile.

" If and when I do decide to tell Ron, could you tell him about these events in Morocco. I'm very sure he'll become more mature and responsible in the coming years, but he's a guy. I can't...er... Best friends or not, I just don't I want to break down in front of him..." Hermione looked at him oddly.

He defended himself, " ...its a guy thing. It'll be just too..." Harry searched for a word, but he could not find something that described how he would feel. Hermione came to his rescue.

" Don't worry about it. I'll tell him when you think he's ready to know." She promised and then asked, " How are you feeling?", as she ran her finger through his soft black hair. If there was one thing that she was jealous of Harry it was his hair. Sure, it was just as wild as her own, but it was not bushy.

" Fine." He replied as best as he could, " I'll tell you the rest of the story..." 

" Don't." She said in her most concern filled voice. " Just answer a few Questions. If you think that's all right."

" Okay."

" When did you get that mortar and pestle thing for Professor Snape?"

" That was a total accident. A few days before I caught Shozar, I was out in the near by town to buy some food for Professor Dippet, and me. I called him David at that stage, since we had become such good friends at that stage. I went into the town, it was my turn to go into a town, and well I caught a few boys breaking into the magic shop run my Methyl Magda. They were looking to steal some ingredients to pull pranks on people. Well, Methyl was very happy and gave me the mortar and pestle as a gift. He told me they were expensive, since he was a very big name in Potions. He was shy to mention that fact, but I could tell he was famous. He offered to brew me all kinds of potions. He was even willing to brew me the purifying potion, even thought he would not be able to do anything for that week. I read about the potion in the books about Soul Inhibiting potion-"

Hermione blushed slightly.

"- so I agreed to that. Well, you took a vial of that." Harry looked at her and saw how guilty she felt. Almost as if it, she felt that it was her fault that she was forced fed that potion by Harry and Ali Pasha. Harry could not honestly think why she felt that way. True that potion did things to women that was highly irregular, but she had never done anything like that. She simply did not have enough time for the effects of the potion to start, let alone get to the embarrassing stage. But Harry knew that confronting her about how she felt would only make her feel more embarrassed. Hermione would like to forget that incident ever took place, and so he decided he would not bring up again.

Hermione waited a few seconds before she asked, " Did you tell anyone else?"

" Yes. I told Professor Dumbledore. He already knew about me and there was something that I had to tell him"

" He knew about it already!" she exclaimed, " How?"

" I saved his niece, I didn't know it at the time but it turned out to be her...   
It was a very dark night that Friday when Harry and Professor Dippet set camp on the outskirts of a rather large but rundown city by the name of Khulna. Professor Dippet told me to go into the city and look for as a particular cafe and ask for food there for David of Lancaster. 

It took a second to enter the city. The cafe was easy enough to find, but something happening in the alleyway nearby got his attention. He heard screams by what he deduced that it was a young woman. He saw some people contemplate helping the woman in the alley, but they ran. 

What Harry saw, when he intervened, staff ready was the most horrifying scene in his life. Two men were trying to rape a woman. This was not the part that horrified Harry. It was the fact that one of the men was holding a helpless baby in his arms and threatening to kill it if she did not co-operate that had horrified Harry. It invoked a terrible need for revenge in him when he saw this. He had lost his own mother because of some bad men. Power very much like that he had experienced in his own time, before he was thrown back in time, filled him. The fight between the two men and Harry did not last long.

When the dust was settled, the two men had both their leg and arms broken, cracked ribs and vertebrae out of line. He would have had used the killing curse on the two men had he not been stopped by the mother herself. 

****

(A/N: The more detailed account will be coming up in a few weeks.

" That's the only person's life I saved directly... it was because of that day did I try and stop the war. It was so that Sanoe would have a peaceful life that I tried to hunt down Shozar Sebastian."

Hermione looked positively sick, when he finished telling her all the gruesome details. Harry was not far off himself, but his time in Morocco had hardened him a lot. He suspected that's why very few things got on his nerves now. Harry tried to lighten the mood. " Sanoe was the cutest baby I've ever seen. Well...the only one, but I know that he was the cutest thing I have ever seen. He had these chubby little hands and a really nice shade of pink all over his skin. I had to take care of him once, while she was travelling with us. Our food had run out and we needed someone to go into the city. Women were allowed to get food from the oasis in the desert, men were killed on sight."

Hermione gasped, Harry had not thought before he said that. The whole idea of him telling her about Sano was to lighten the mood not get into another round of story telling.

" Don't be so shocked. It was war, and men approaching the city without a banner of the city meant one thing. Invading army. As incredibly sexist it sounds, most men did not let their counterparts participate in the war. Their status went from witches and supposed equals to baby machines. So the chances of a woman approaching the city, alone to the water well was allowable. Somehow no one thought to poison the water supplies... to my knowledge anyway."

A few seconds later, Hermione looked at Harry. Almost as if sizing him up for something.

" Why don't you want anyone to know about what you did in Morocco? And don't tell me because you hate fame. I know that... but this is different. You've only told me and Professor Dumbledore, which suggests you've hidden something. Something that needs to be hidden..."

Harry was going to say something, but she said, " Don't interrupt me...Ever since you came back, you've been giving off this aura that says that you have a lot of experience. You're very sure of things, like you know something- The Veloron thing. At that close range you were close enough to be burnt to a crisp, even including the fact you had a shielding charm around yourself and can speak to dragons in Drakh." Harry knew what that was... he paid attention to what Hagrid had said on the first day of classes) " I think something made you believe that you would survive it."

" You're very perceptive, Hermione. As much as I want to tell-" Harry interrupted Hermione, but then Hermione interrupted him.

" You didn't let me finish..." she said annoyed, " ...you boys are so impatient. I know, you're waiting for something. I know, you can't tell me because that'll affect the future. That's why I don't want you to tell me."

Hermione stopped. She stood up and started to put the books back into her bag. Harry stood up right up with her. 

" You're amazing. I don't think I've met anyone so smart, brave, understanding and perceptive as you." He said, hugging Hermione very tightly.

" Well, I'm special. By the way... How did" emphasis on the word did, " you get past my shielding charm?" asked Hermione.

" That was something that David- I mean Professor Dippet taught me. It's called a compression charm. I cast it on my hands before I entered. I thought you might try something like you did. It's not particularly strong, but it's great for getting down magical barriers. As long as the shield, is being produced by a living thing. Pressure build up inside the barrier and the only way to reduce it is to either, weaken the shielding charm, making it easy for the person on the outside the shield to break in or reduce the shield circumference, resulting in the same outcome. The compression charm only last a few minutes after being cast on the caster's hands and on top of that, depending on the person being attacked and his/her magical strength, it stops working a few inches to the shield. I took a chance that you didn't know what I was doing and would surprise you enough to drop the shield. It looks like my idea worked."

" It won't work the next time..." she said defiantly.

" I know... but I have other tricks up my proverbial sleeve." Harry said with a mischievous smile on his face that made a shiver run down her spine.

" If you're almost a year older and Professor Dumbledore knows, why did he not put you in 6th year? It's truly unfair that you're so much older and yet you're in the same class as me."

" Oh... so now you're trying to find reason's I beat you in charms."

" No... I was just ask..." Hermione did not like Harry bringing up her mistake again.

" Don't worry... I'm only joking. I know that's not the reason. To answer your question, it's the same reason as you not getting your birthday presents eight days early."

" Huh? Why would I get my birthday presents eight days early?"

" Because. I as I figure it, You had 28-hour working weekdays in your 3rd year. That makes it eight extra days to the year."

Hermione was quite taken back. She had not thought that Harry paid attention to detail like that. She stopped right in front of the door and gave another one of her examining glances.

" Don't look so shocked. I had plenty of time to reflect on my life before Morocco and examine things in more detail. I found some startling things about myself."

" Like?"

" Well one thing was my crush on Cho. I realised..." he looked at Hermione's shocked face and stopped. " Oh... cummon... you knew about it. I had been googling and stammering around her since my third year."

" I did... I just didn't think that you did." Smiled Hermione.

" Well, I realised that it was a crush and had Cedric not been dead or not taken part in the TriWizard Tournament, for that matter not been interested in Cho at all. I still would not have had been able to pluck up enough courage to speak to her and find out enough about her to like her in that special way. I just did not know her. She was pretty and smart since she was in Ravenclaw and ...well that's all."

" I don't know why I had never saw this..." said Hermione. " No not your crush. It was in the book that Professor Dippet wrote. I didn't even see the parallels between Harold's life and yours." She shook her head in disbelief.

" As Professor Dippet told me a million times, as we practised Septanic Dueling.." Harry's voice went a bit deeper and a bit more gruff, " 'Hindsight is 20/20. It's no use thinking about what you did wrong, when you've got to think about what's coming next'... the last part does not apply, but the hindsight thing definitely applies." 

She smiled, " So when exactly are you gonna ask Alicia out?"

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
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	37. CH 37: TRYOUT

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 37/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 37  
**Chapter Name:** Tryouts

" If you're almost a year older and Professor Dumbledore knows, why didn't he put you up a year? It's truly unfair that you're so much older and yet you're in the same class as me."

" Oh… so now you're trying to find reason's I beat you in charms."

" No… I was just…" Hermione did not like Harry bringing up her mistake again.

" Don't worry… I'm only joking. I know that's not the reason. To answer your question, it's the same reason as you not getting your birthday presents eight days early."

" Huh? Why would I get my birthday presents eight days early?"

" Because. I as I figure it, you had 28-hour working weekdays in your 3rd year. That makes it eight extra days to the year."

Hermione was quite taken back. She had not thought that Harry paid attention to detail like that. She stopped right in front of the door and gave another one of her examining glances.

" Don't look so shocked. I had plenty of time to reflect on my life before Morocco and examine things in more detail. I found some startling things about myself."

" Like?"

" Well one thing was my crush on Cho. I realised…" he looked at Hermione's shocked face and stopped. " Oh… come on! you knew about it. I had been goggling and stammering around her since my third year."

" I did… I just didn't think that you did." smiled Hermione.

" Well, I realised that it was just a crush. Had Cedric not been dead, not taken part in the TriWizard Tournament or for that matter not even been interested in Cho at all, I still would not have been able to pluck up enough courage to speak to her and find out enough about her to like her in that special way. I just did not know her. She was pretty and smart since she was in Ravenclaw and …well that's all."

" I don't know why I had never saw this," said Hermione. " No, not your crush. It was in the book that Professor Dippet wrote. I didn't even see the parallels between Harold's life and yours." She shook her head in disbelief.

" As Professor Dippet told me a million times, as we practised Septanic Dueling," Harry's voice went a bit deeper and a bit rougher, " 'Hindsight is 20/20. It's no use thinking about what you did wrong, when you've got to think about what's coming next', the last part does not apply, but the hindsight part definitely applies." 

She smiled, " So when exactly are you going to ask Alicia out?"

Harry was shocked right out of his mind. He was rapidly trying to remember what he could have said to lead her into believing that he was indeed interested in Alicia. The only thing he could think of was the conversation he had a few days ago with her when she had made a passing comment that Alicia seemed very interested in him and he had reacted. Hermione was pinning Harry to the wall with her intense gaze that Harry found to invoke a lot of feelings that simply terrified him. To him the gaze seemed to look right into his mind and it was an eerie feeling. It was more intense than any look that Professor Dumbledore, who he suspected was a mind reader, was capable of.

Harry considered a few options. Run from the situation, tell her he had no idea when he plans to do or deny it. All of which would confirm what Hermione was suspecting. He was searching for a way out that would do the job of hiding his feeling and not arouse suspicion, when the solution literally hit him.

Harry stumbled, but caught himself from falling down. He cursed himself from standing at the entrance of a secret corridor, but was glad when it turned out to be Alicia.

" Oops, sorry." She looked up to see Harry and their sudden closeness made a bit of blood rush to their cheek. Though both of them felt their cheeks turn hot, it was not noticeable on the outside.

" Alicia? What're you doing here?" asked Harry.

" I came to get you," She said, pulling at her robes, " for the Quidditch tryouts."

" Oh Yeah!" Harry gave her a sheepish smile as he turned to Hermione and said, " We've got to go now…"

" That's quite okay. I have to go find Parvati. I'll see you guys in a bit, okay?"

" Okay…" Hermione barely heard Harry's reply before she jumped into the secret corridor.

Harry turned back to Alicia and asked, " So exactly what do I have to do. You're the captain."

" You're helping out… No. It's easier to explain once you're there." With that she grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the Quidditch field.

Everyone was waiting for them. Including a very odd looking George. He looked angry about something, but Harry did not know what. Katie Bell was whispering into Angelina's ears making her blush. Harry wondered exactly what Katie had said that made the normally carefree Angelina blush like that. Lee was also hovering there and seemed to be talking with Fred about something very interesting. For some unknown reason, Roger Davies was there as well.

" Why is he here?" Harry asked Alicia as they made their way to the group.

" Oh! Didn't I tell you?"

" Tell me what?"

" After the Scavenger incident…" Alicia saw Harry's face get a pink tinge, " I got him to agree to help us out with the tryouts. I just wanted an experienced keeper, while we hold the tryout for the reserves."

" So. What do I do? I can't think of anything that I can do to help. I mean…" started Harry but Alicia interrupted him.

" You're going to yell out names from this." Alicia summoned a list of names and handed it to Harry, "and the position they want play in. The keeper trials are afterwards."

" Easy enough."

The pair were only a few meters from the group, when Katie Bell came to them rushing. She whispered something into Alicia's ear, too low for Harry to pickup, and then rushed back to Angelina. When Harry looked at her, he saw that she was blushing as much as Angelina had.

" Hi Harry." Katie said with a smirk on her face, almost as if she knew something and he did not, before going back.

" What did she say to you?" inquired Harry.

" Ermm… nothing. Just a joke, It's a girl thing."

The whole thing was very suspicious to Harry, but he did not pursuit it. He was much more interested in what in a year's time he had to do for himself.

Crowds of people started to gather in the grand stand. The whole house had turned up to see this and much to his surprise he found several of the know bookworms and Quidditch haters, (yes people like that existed), had show up.

" Why are there so many people? Are they all trying out?"

" No. This is bigger than the Quidditch games. There's almost as much excitement but people show up because they can see some hilarious things happen in the trials. People falling off their brooms, booms not listening to their owners and dropping balls are just the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot more fun at the tryouts then the real games. Even the people who hate Quidditch show up."

" I can see that. Wow, didn't expect that."

" This is nothing," she said, " The year that I was chosen in the reserves, all the houses showed up. Every single person in the castle was there. It was frightening."

" Really?"

" Yeah. You should have seen Lee. It was so funny. He tried out for the chaser position. He was nervous before the tryout. He was great at catching the ball…well, once he got the ball he sped towards the hoop. He hit the post at full speed and knocked himself unconscious. He was in the hospital wing for three days in a row."

Harry just smiled at that. 

Between thirty and forty boys made it onto the field. Then he saw a few of the girls make their way into the field. Most of them were in between first to fourth years. Harry had expected the total numbers to be higher and a fair percentage of the girls to participate, but most of the people that Harry knew to have the body to play Quidditch were in his level and up. This meant that they either had exams this year or the year after and they were simply too important to them. 

As soon as he had thought of the exams, Harry wondered why Hermione had not started to remind them of the exams. Harry wondered why Hermione had not started her mad dash for the exams, not to mention why she had not started to annoy Ron and himself about studying. Then he remembered that he had been sleeping for two days and before that, otherwise occupied. The first name on the list was a third year.

Alicia went to where the boys were and said, " Welcome. I'm Alicia Spinnett. I'll be the captain for our house this year. The first tryout is for the reserve squad, which is open to everyone, including the 1st years. The next tryout is for the Keeper position, which is restricted to 2nd years and above." There was groan of disappointment, but everyone already knew about it. " Aside from that… I'll leave you guys to Harry. He's the seeker for out team and the co-captain. But you all know that right?"

There was a round of applause at that.

" Okay. This is the way it'll work. I'll call you name and year. You'll tell me which positions you want to tryout for. If you are interested in just the keeper trials, I think it's best that you wait until I call for you." There were a few heads that nodded a yes, " Once you do that, go and pick up a Nimbus 2000 broom and go onto the field. Then Alicia will give you the instructions and Madam Hooch over there will record her observations."

At that point Alicia jumped in and said, " The results will be posted on the common room. Good Luck."

A few of the boys looked sick when they turned to see the number of people in the stands. The stands had filled up almost completely and the crowd was cheering. A late entry came into the field. It was a first year Girl by the name of Ariana Pennons. She, as always, looked at him all googly eyed and with a blush on her face. She was a muggle born and had known nothing about Harry's past when she got in trouble. The Slytherin girls called her a mudblood, and in retaliation, two of her friends jumped on them.

Harry had told them to not get into another physical fight like that and to take the matter to one of the professors. Harry remembered feeling very awkward giving that advice when he himself had done the same thing before. But then again, it was his duty to say that. He did take a few points off the Slytherins for doing that.

" Joshua Rheinhart. 3rd year. Chaser…" said Harry and the tryouts for all the positions except for the keeper was on the way.

There were three candidates for the chaser position. Joshua was very good. Harry saw that Alicia had been quite thorough on checking Joshua. She put him in 1st, 2nd and the 3rd chaser positions and was surprised to discover that he was equally good in that department. 

Seamus and James Masters (A/N: BTVS!) were the other two. They were both good, but they would need practice to become part of the team the next year, when the current team leaves.

Dean Thomas, Sean Carter and a burly 6th year by the name of Jesse, no last name, were exceptionally good at the beater position. Though Harry could not make up his mind about which of the three should be chosen. Then there was the reserve seeker. That position went to Ginny Weasley. Ron had tried out for it, but because he had a lot more muscle mass, he was not so good. Ginny one the other hand was very good. There were admiring whistles and catcalls from everyone including the twins when she got off the broom, the snitch in her hand. She was a bit less than Hermione's height but that gave her the perfect build for the game. Harry was the first to congratulate her.

" Well done, Ginny."

She turned and saw Harry. The effect was instantaneous. She cheeks were on fire and she started stammering. She did not get to enjoy a few more words that were going to come out of Harry's mouth because her brothers had carried her off to do a lap around the field.

The spectators were not deprived of what the came to see. There had been twenty-six injuries. There were several people getting injured by brooms and things flying out of their cloaks, but the most interesting part of the trial was the Keeper tryouts.

Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley were the three 5th years that took part. There was a 7th year by the name of Asoka Anderson and a 4th year by the name of David Sommerfield who also took part. The results at the end were: 

****

NAME | MISSED | STOPPED | COMMENT 

__

Ron Weasley | 5 | 15 | Excellent broom handling, but several times distracted after saving the ball. This can lead to an over-holding penalty.

" Great job on the field Ron" said Harry patting him on the back. Harry was excited at the prospect of playing with his best friend on the team, but it was still too early to tell. 

****

Dean Thomas | 10 | 10 | Very good catching skills. 

Seamus and Neville were telling him not to worry. It was only a tryout. He did look disappointed, but cheered up as his friends clapped him on the back.

****

Asoka Anderson | 6 | 14 | Slightly lacking in Flying skills, but exceptionally good at catching the ball. IF he is taught how to avoid the bludgers well, then he could be better than Ron Weasley. 

That comment by Madam Hooch dampened Harry's mood, but Harry was confident that Alicia would choose Ron because he was the one who would be better in the team. 

****

David Sommerfield | 11 | 9 | Okay player, but will need a lot more work.

Nothing much was said about David. He was a good player but not an exceptional one. The exceptional one was Neville! When he called up the broom, it would not respond. When it finally did, he made it up to the post and missed the first three shots. People were laughing at how bad Neville was.

Neville was on the verge of crying, since it had taken all the courage he had to sign up for the Quidditch tryouts. He would have had quit right there, if he had not seen Pansy give him a thumbs up from far away. Filled with a new sense of courage, Neville went back on the field and managed to stop the remaining shots, even though he fell off three times and landed on the sand below. 

****

Neville Longbottom | 3 | 17 | Very good catching. The best, but he needs to do be taught how to handle a broomstick better. Probably the best to choose.

The comment by Madam Hooch, ruled out any chance that Ron had of being on the team. Ron was glad though that he would be on the reserves. But it was not to be so.

As Neville was getting pats on the back and congratulatory words, Harry's thoughts were interrupted by a whiny female voice. " Please Hermione?" pleaded Parvati as she tried to take her hands away from Hermione's grip. " Can't we at least talk about this? I mean really…" she stopped after Hermione came to a halt. She looked up to see that Hermione was giving her a very stern looking glance. It was so much like Professor Mcgonagall that it scared her. A shiver ran down her spine to confirm it. Her throat felt as parched as the time, she had forgotten to do her homework for Transfiguration.

" We already talked about this." Said Hermione in her disapproving voice. " You agreed. You're going to do it and that's that. If you don't want to be the keeper, then do badly in it."

Parvati gave up struggling against Hermione, but decided that she would do terribly. Well, that plan only lasted until she saw Harry approaching. He was smiling broadly as the approached the two girls. To Parvati, it almost felt like that his smile was like glitter and it was attacking her, but in the best possible way. She felt all tingly and her head was buzzing.

" Hermione!" he exclaimed. " Didn't expect you to see here! Are you trying out?" he said expectantly. " You'd be the first girl from out level. There's been only three so far and they were all 3rd year and down. Somehow this year, they are not as interested as the last time this house had a tryout."

" No!" said Hermione. She pushed Parvati to Harry and said, " She is. I'm just here to make sure she doesn't bail."

" Really?" he was surprised. Surprised he asked, " Good. Which position by the way?"

Parvati was very sure that if she asked, Harry would withdraw her name from the tryout. She was going to ask, as his glitter attack seemed to have had stopped, but Hermione answered for her. " Keeper. She knows a lot and…" well the next few minutes were spent Hermione filling in Harry about the practise that Parvati was commenting on. Though Hermione said nothing about why Parvati did not want to play in the first place.

" Well," said Harry to Parvati, " If you're half as good as Hermione said, you're almost surely in the team. So far we're in a dead lock in the keeper department." He said giving Parvati a smile. It was not just a smile, it expressed his genuine happiness, relief and joy that she was there. It was enough to almost melt into a puddle right there.

It was almost a whole minute, before Parvati realised that she had been staring at Harry. Harry did not notice it, because he was filling Hermione on Ron's progress. 

" … So that's the Reserve side as I think it might be. But the decision is ultimately with Alicia. The keeper for our main team is the one that concerns me. There are four very good candidates. First there's Asoka…He's almost a good as Ron.

Parvati saw how Hermione's eyes lit up on hearing his name. * She does like him* Parvati reasoned to herself.

" What about him?" Hermione asked with concern filling her voice.

" Nothing. He's good. But not as good as…" he did not finish the sentence as he pointed at the lone, very slightly chubby figure on the sidelines only a few meters away from them. The crowd around Neville had vanished, as Alicia was talking to him.

" Neville!" said Hermione and Parvati in shocked horror.

" I know… that was my reaction." He said, " I mean I never thought Neville could do that! Not with how bad he was in his first year on the broom, but even though he fell off his broom… wait I didn't tell you what happened in his tryout…"

"- What happened?" asked Parvati.

" Well… he was the best so far, in terms of the sheer numbers of Quaffles that he stopped," Hermione's face dropped a bit. She knew that chances were that Ron might not get into the team. She knew he wanted desperately to get into a team. " But he also was very lousy on the broom. It means Ron who is good on his broom and a bit better than okay at stopping the Quaffles, is now tied in with Neville, who can stop most of the Quaffles but is very bad on the broom."

Harry looked at Parvati hoping that she would be as good as Hermione said she was going to be. It would spare him from deciding between Ron and Neville. Though Ron was good, he knew Alicia would choose Neville. It's very likely that the twins would be able to keep people occupied long enough for Neville to get up. It's also easier to teach someone to fly a broom than to teach how to be a keeper. That's if they had a retired keeper amongst them, but they didn't. They couldn't very well ask the reserve keeper (Oliver Wood) of an international team to come and help them.

Harry placed his arm on Parvati's shoulder and squeezed it a little as he smiled and said, " Good luck… not that you need it. All the best." As he pointed his other hand to where the Nimbus 2000 broomstick lay.

The final traces of sabotaging her own tryout were banished from her head. Her head was still buzzing from Harry's touch and the sweet smile he had given her.

Just as Hermione had predicted, Parvati was good. She missed only two shots and was much better than Neville in both catching and her ability in terms of flying. She was almost as good at predicting the play the Chasers were using and devise a counter attack. She was much better than even Hermione thought. According to Parvati the only time she played Quidditch was when she was very young and with her family in the holidays.

Soon as she had got off the broom, every one from the stand rushed to get to her. Dean, in all the excitement, forgot that he was supposed to be shy around Parvati, since he had a crush on her, and hugged and congratulated her. He spun her around once as well, making her blush furiously.

****

Parvati Patil | 1 | 19 | Excellent broom control and catching ability. As good as Oliver Wood when he first started.

As the most of the house were celebrating the new and almost Wood like keeper, Neville celebrated as well. He was glad that he didn't have to be in the main team. Doing the tryouts took almost all he had in terms of courage, and he was not sure if he was going to be ready for what he had to do.

Ron however was not pleased, he had lost his chance to be on both the main and the reserve side of the team, but he also felt joy at the thought that his house would not loose to the Slytherins.

It was only seconds before he joined in the celebrations, easing the turmoil in Hermione's mind that by dragging Parvati into the tryout she had done something horrible to Ron.

Harry came up to Ron, but before he could say anything to what appeared to him as solemn Ron, he was tackled into a short but friendly hug. Ron let out a victory cry, " Yahoo! We've got a new keeper…"

" Parvati" said someone, "Hip. Hip. Hooray!"

"Hip. Hip. Hooray!" echoed everyone.

From afar, Malfoy was boiling in his own juices… he had seen Parvati perform on the field and he knew that the only way he could win was by cheating

***

" The reserve squad is actually very good." said Harry, relaxing under the tree.

" True…" Alicia agreed, " Though you have to admit, we never saw the new reserve keeper coming. I was totally stunned that it was him."

" I know, you share a room with a person for four years, and then they do something that amazes you."

" He is the best that we had… nervous, but good. I still can't believe how many times he fell off the boom…"

" I can't believe its Neville Longbottom that's our new reserve Keeper," said Harry. 

" What about the real keeper then? I never saw that one coming." said Alicia.

" You? I went to the ball with her. I had no idea she was even interested in Quidditch, let alone be as good as she is. Like Madam Hooch said, she's almost as good as Oliver, and that's saying something." Said Harry.

" I know! I think with time and a few games under her robes, she might rival Oliver. Strange though."

" What's strange?" 

Alicia looked uncomfortable as she said, " Very few girls wanted to try out…"

Harry started to think on the topic and was almost lost in it when, " Hey!" said Alicia as she nudged him.

" Huh?" he said snapping out of the reverie.

" You have that last check-up with Madame Pomfrey, Remember?"

Suddenly it occurred to Harry that she was right. In fact he was going to be late if he didn't start heading for the infirmary straight away. 

****

Thanks to MythX for grammar and spell checking.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
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	38. CH 38: A Question

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 38/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 38  
**Chapter Name:** A Question

Harry started to think on the topic and was almost lost in it when, " Hey!" said Alicia as she nudged him.

" Huh?" he said snapping out of the reverie.

" You have that last check-up with Madame Pomfrey, Remember?"

Suddenly it occurred to Harry that she was right. In fact he was going to be late if he didn't start walking then.

" I'll see you later then…" Harry started, as he got up, but Alicia cut in.

" I'll come with you." Harry raised an eyebrow, " There's something I have to ask for from Madam Pomfrey."

" Oh. Okay." Said Harry.

As they walked they talked about their own observations of the people that tried out. Alicia had several different opinions, and they were all justified. As Harry suspected, She thought Neville would be a good keeper, if he ever manages to control his broom. She however thought that Asoka would have had made a better keeper than Ron, despite the fact that Ron had scored higher.

" Well, It's my opinion. I'll consult Madam Hooch, before I make any decisions."

" We're here," announced Harry.

" Can I go in first?" asked Alicia.

" Are you sick?" Harry asked concerned.

" No. It's just I have to attend a staff meeting. You know, voice the opinion of the students' kind of thing. The board of governors might be there too." She cringed.

" Whats wrong with that?"

" Err… there's this guy on the board. Michael McDuff. Eck. That guy just gives me the creeps…"

" Oh…" Harry did not know what he was supposed to say to that. Thankfully, Alicia did not look for a comment from Harry. She just asked the question again, " Can I go first?"

" Yes. Of course." Harry said.

They both went into the large room, but Alicia separated and headed for where Madam Pomfrey had her private office, while Harry waited on a bed nearby. She came out a few seconds later, with a pink coloured potion in her hand.

" Everything all right?" asked Harry, indicating the potion she had in her hand.

" Aww… that? Don't worry. It's an ongoing medicine for my asthma. I have to take it every few weeks otherwise…" she paused. "Well, lets just say that the effects are visible"

" Doesn't that make it hard for you to play quidditch?"

" It does but the potion stops it cold…" Madam Pomfrey poked her head out of the door and scowled at them, " Well, looks like she wants to see you. I'll see you at dinner."

" Ok. Bye"

As she left the room, Harry's stomach gave a lurch. Partly because Alicia was leaving, but mainly because he was afraid of what Madam Pomfrey was going to say to him.

***

" Professor Dumbledore" said Professor Snape out of surprise. He had been examining his newly acquired mortar and pestle set. He had done a test to see if it was in fact an original and found it to be so, though the age tests came up with a negative result. But the age is not a big part of the authentication process. Since it is magical in nature and was used in creation of potions, it was very likely that the residual magic from its use interfering with the results. Even if the age of the bowl can be questioned, it had all the secret now famous functions that would make any alchemist's job easier. But more importantly the crest of Alchemy, a society that took all its secrets to the grave, with the passing of Methyl Megda.

* And I have his only instrument that survived the war…* He thought before a forced cough by someone interrupted his train of thought.

" What can do for you, Professor Dumbledore?" he said.

" Severus, I need to talk to you about…" he pointed at the mortar and pestle set and said, " THAT."

Professor Snape cringed. He did not know why, but he had a feeling that he was about to loose his most valued possession. "Why?"

" Because, I've received complaints from a few students that you've not been taking your classes." 

__

'First it was giving too much homework, then unfair points allocation, then unfair punishment, unusual punishments, and now not enough work!' Thought Professor Snape. 

" I've talked at length with the person, and I've asked a few other students… Severus the students need you to be their teacher. As much as you other services are appreciated by me, the school board is likely to remove you if you do not get back to teaching in class." Professor Dumbledore paused for a few seconds.

Snape thought that he had been in a sort of trance the last week and it seemed odd to him that he had not even picked on the Gryffindors in a while.

" I'm sorry Professor Dumbledore…"

" It's quite okay Severus." Said Professor Dumbledore, " I have the same trouble with Chamber music. Once I start I can go on for days…Anyway. There's a School board meeting tonight now."

Professor Snape looked confused.

" It's the one on the End of term ball, The Dueling tournament and…" with his face sombre he finished his sentence to clarify the topic of the meeting, " the Dementor issue."

Though the meeting of the two ended there, they accompanied each other to their destination. At the door to the staff room, they found Roger Davies and Alicia Spinnett talking animatedly with each other. The talking stopped when they saw the two teachers approach them. 

" Miss. Spinnett, " said Professor Dumbledore smiling, " How is Harry doing?"

Professor Snape saw Alicia blush and suddenly he felt sick. Not again, he thought to himself, as he remembered that James Potter had dated the head girl in his 5th year.

Not only that, he could see how Harry's whole love life is going to go.

* He, like his father before him, would date three head girls. 5th year Miss. Spinnett…* he thought. * 6th year is a tie between Miss. Chang and Miss. Nazareth… the old man (referring to Professor Dumbledore), has a soft spot for Miss. Chang, so I'm guessing she'll be the headgirl. The final year there's no doubting that it'll be Miss. Granger… So much like Lily… yet not…but there was a snag in all that. I've seen that Weasley kid look at Miss. Granger and I've caught Miss. Granger doing the same when they thought no one was looking. I guess Potter will go with Ginny Weasley then. I can see that she's smart and capable. Will be the Headgirl, with the talent and the determination that she has. Too bad for Miss. Natasa… the only Slytherin girl in that year with a chance in beating her and she had to move to another country.* though Professor Snape, not paying any attention to the conversation the headgirl and the headmaster was having.

" He's doing fine." She was fidgeting, " I had to leave him at the hospital wing for this meeting." She said, sounding disappointed, confirming what Professor Snape already knew of.

" Glad to hear it. How were the tryouts? I hear it caused quite a stir, though details are still unclear to me."

" It went very well. We've got a very good keeper this year and with Harry on the team, we're bound to win both of the cups." She said very excitedly. Though in the middle of her talk she looked pointedly at Professor Snape, almost daring him to challenge her and prove her wrong.

Professor Snape was severely tempted to take off points right there, but he restrained himself, less he appeared to insult Professor Dumbledore. Her semi-arrogant statement hit a raw nerve. 

Not in front of the man that he was trying to prove to that he was always better than James. Not in front of the man that gave him a second chance. Not in front of the man, that he had tried to get approval for, all his life. James Potter would have been the one to take off points before thinking. It was one of his character flaws that until very recently he had seen in his son.

Remembering all this, he wanted nothing better to hate James for getting everything he ever wanted: The quidditch fame, the adoration and acceptance of his peers, Professor Dumbledore's approval and the heart of Lily Evans. But it was hard for him to, since James had been nothing but nice to him. James had saved his life, and even when he blamed the whole thing on James, whiling telling Lily, he had not protested. In a sick and twisted sort of way, the inability to hate James is what made him hate James.

" Take a seat everyone," said Professor Dumbledore as he entered the room. The room had a deep green carpet and the walls were of an expensive wooden finish. It was almost as if they were in an office of some sort, rather than a stone walled room that was most of the rooms in Hogwarts. As the more important people took seat, Alison and Roger kept standing. " First matter on the agenda is The Dementors." A murmur went through the room.

The Minister of Magic spoke up, "You've got to see reason Dumbledore, Sirius Black has been hiding and now we have intelligence that he's planning to come back to Hogwarts…"

" Minister, you seem to conveniently forget that one of the students was almost killed because of those creatures." Said Professor Dumbledore referring to Harry almost getting a Dementor's kiss in his third year.

" That was just a mistake… The leader of the Dementors told me that it was an honest mistake. They'll not be coming into the school grounds."

" Honest mistake?" came the enraged response from Remus Lupin, who had just come into the room. " Had the boy not performed Patronus Charm, they would have had killed him."

Alicia was taken aback. She had seen the mist come out of Harry's wand in their Quidditch game in Harry's 3rd year. But She had no idea that Harry was capable of such advanced magic. It was well beyond 7th year magic. It partially excited her and partially made her afraid.

" Says a werewolf!" said Fudge spitefully; ignoring what was told to him. "I'm the minister of Magic. I will do as I wish. I'm putting the Dementors at the gate and nothing you can say will change my mind and if you try and stop me, I'll have you removed from your seat." Fudge had turned a horrible shade of pink as he said this.

" Is that so Cornelius?"

" Yes."

" So be it." Professor Dumbledore looked like he had given in. Professor Snape and Lupin were both shock and they were going to express their outrage when, Professor Dumbledore said with a very cold voice. "If the Dementors step inside the school grounds, I'll personally rip them to shreds. Even if they step inside to kill Sirius Black."

The minister of magic looked shocked. He had no idea that it was even possible to that.

" It is possible to that, I assure you." That was the minister's second shock. " If that happens, I'll personally seek your resignation." He said it coolly.

" Dumbledore, are you threatening me? I don't take kindly to threats."

" I'm not threatening you minister." He leaned forward on the table and said, " I'm just stating the obvious. If the public find out that you've put Dementors here against my will, which in turn resulted their own children being in danger, they'll remove you from office. I'll be the one that recommends that, if and when that happens."

The minister looked shocked that Professor Dumbledore, the always the diplomat was outright threatening him. "Look, I'll not have you threaten me like that. I'll…I'll…leave. That's it" he said getting up. "I'll leave…"

" Thanks you for your time Minister." Said Lucius Malfoy getting up to escort the minister out." I'm totally with you on the Dementors issue…" his voice trailed off as he and the minister and his three bodyguards left the room.

" You shouldn't have had threatened him like that Albus." Said Ken Abbott," Fudge can be a dangerous enemy if he has something against you. He can very well remove you from your position and with the rise of you-know-who, the situation can only get worse…"

" Think you for your concern Ken." Professor Dumbledore said, his face returning to its normal soft expression. "But he won't remove me from my position. It would make my accusations that Voldemort-" the effect was instantaneous, Alicia along with almost everyone in the room cringed at the name. Only Professor Dumbledore and Remus Lupin remained unfazed. Professor Snape looked sick at the mention of the name, though not as afraid as everyone in the room did. " -Is back more credible. He won't risk that. He thinks that by ignoring the problem, it'll just go away."

" But how do we know for sure…" said one of the governors spoke up.

" There was a death last year of one of the brightest students of this school. You think it was an accident?" said Professor Sprout, in a voice mad with anger, "You think something else could have had happened to him? Something…" the sentence was never finished, as professor Vector cast a calming charm in Sprout's direction. It worked. In a few seconds, everything was normal.

" I'm sorry… but there were rumours going around that Harry Potter killed him. To get this girl… I don't know her name. Chinese girl… you know…"

" What are you implying? 'The boy who lived' killed Cedric Diggory? Are you insane?" said Professor McGonagall. "He's a model student and is kind and caring with others. Besides as Professor Dumbledore will tell you, he's been aware of the dark lord's progress to his resurrection was known to him, well before the incident ever took place."

"It's true. I did know there was a connection, alas; I did not know what it was until the incident took place. By that time, one of my students was dead. I've checked his wand to see if it had been used to cast the killing curse. It was not."

" Well, I withdraw my comments then."

" Looks as though the Dementor issue has been taken care of. One way or another…" there was a hint of disappointment in Professor Dumbledore's voice that Alicia picked up on.

Her eyes then focused on Professor Lupin, or Remus Lupin, since he was no longer a professor. He had entered the room a few minutes ago and joined in the heated conversation. She had suspected there was something odd about him, from the number of times he had missed classes, though she had never considered that he was a werewolf. The first impression she got of him was a friendly one and knowing that what she knew now, she surprised herself because she did not feel frightened the way she was supposed to. After all, for the last six years, she had heard that werewolves were dark creatures.

" The second issue that I would like to raise is the appointment of Charlie Weasley for Care of Magical Studies. I've hired him until Professor Rubeus Hagrid comes back from his holiday. Is there any objections?"

" Yes there is. How dare you?" yelled a voice from the other side of the room. It was Lucius Malfoy. " You do not have the authority to make staff Appointments. Only the board has. We," he made a gesture to indicate the rest of the governors, "took that power away from you after you hired that scum to teach our children." He said pointing at Remus. Remus however appeared totally unfazed. In fact, he was grinning at Lucius Malfoy. Alicia thought it was almost as if he was enjoying being the cause of Lucius Malfoy's anger. " For that matter, why is he here."

" Mr. Malfoy, Hold your tongue. He's here at the request of the Moroccan Ministry. It has nothing to do with the matters the school governors are entrusted to look after. He is here to supervise the Dueling tournament, which was going to be my next topic. He owns that patent to the Dueling rink that we will be using for the tournament. As well as that the Moroccan ministry has hired him to be Professor Pasha's assistant. I'm sure you can agree that a person with the status of Professor Pasha needs to have an assistant with him at all times. So it was necessary for him to be here."

Lucius Malfoy looked angry that one of his objections was cut to shreds. "Why did you hire that Weasley Kid? He's just like his father; they are no good in magic…He played for Rampaging Rhinos for god sake…" said Lucius, referring to the fact that Charlie Weasley had played for two games in the National Quidditch league. 

Before Professor Dumbledore could ask, what that had to with anything, he stopped himself. One of the governors stood up, "I happen to like the Rampaging Rhinos, thank you! I support the motion to hire him."

Three other supported the motion. The only other person on the board was Michael McDuff. He stood up and said, "The Weasley's are a shame to the pureblood wizards, but Charlie Weasley is the best I can see us getting. At least now the half giant is gone. I support the motion as well."

Lucius Malfoy sat down on the chair in defeat. His vote was no longer needed. His face was still red in anger.

" Good, the third motion is for the Dueling Tournament. It has been arranged with the Moroccan Ministry and they have allowed the Septanic Dueling method to be taught and used in the tournament. The rules have been finalised by Professor Pasha. One rule is why I bring up that topic. The capture of the wand of the opposing wizard has been deemed as not sufficient to constitute a victory. He has added as Mercy and Knock out as the only way to end the match. Is there any opposition to this rule?" The governors talked for a split second before they unanimously decided it was okay by them.

" Thank you. The last matter that I bring up is the ball." Alicia's ears pricked up upon hearing this. She had bought a beautiful all white dress with light pink coloured trims. It was nothing stunning, but she could not wait to put it on. She had already worn it three times in front of her mirror. She just could not get enough of how the dress made he look. She usually was not that vain, but that simple dress made her want to wear it all the time. 

" What about it?" blurted out Alicia from where she was standing. "Oops. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have had said anything…" she started to apologise, when Professor Dumbledore interrupted her.

" It's quite okay. This was the reason that I asked you and Roger here." He faced the board and said: "The staff have decided that this year being how it is the first year of Voldemort's return, it would boost morale if the ball was shifted forward."

Alicia smiled at this. It meant that she would get to wear her dress sooner than she had thought.

" To when?" asked Professor Snape, who had clearly missed all the discussions in the staff room.

" Halloween. Two days before the tournament starts."

" Isn't that too soon? …For the tournament I mean." Said Professor Snape. "The students would hardly have enough time to get prepared for the tournament"

" The sign up sheet was only open for one day and only students who want to participate signed up. Aside from that, this is only the trial run for the one after the holidays. Students will have plenty of time to get ready for that one. The prize for the tournament has been decided as a double pass to the Quidditch World Cup and a meeting with the team of choice by the victor. Victor Krum, of the Bulgarian Quidditch team, generously arranged the prize and the winning house would receive one hundred points."

" This where you two come in." said Professor Flitwick. The shortest person in the room also today sported the loudest voice. It was a result of Eloise Midgeon of Hufflepuff. She had accidentally cast a spell to silence a room, but had ended up cursing the professor and making his voice louder. "I'm going on holiday, soon-" Alicia looked shocked and saddened at the same time. "- Don't worry my dear. Professor Dumbledore is going to teach the class while I'm on holiday. It'll only be for a month. But he won't have time to do the decorations for the ball. That is what you two will be organising. I'll leave a list of charms and things that you'll need."

" When are you going?" asked Roger who had been quite all that time.

" No really sure… But it'll be a few weeks before the ball."

" Okay." Said Roger as he went across the room and shook Professor Flitwick's hand.

" Well, if that is all for the evening, I would like to return home." Said McDuff.

" It is and thank you for helping out in today's events." Said Professor Mcgonagall as she escorted all the governors out of the room. All the professors followed them, with the exception of Professor Pasha and Professor Snape. Remus Lupin stayed behind as well. She guessed that was because he was Professor Pasha's assistant now. Alicia and Roger remained as none of the teachers had dismissed them yet.

" You two may go now. We have other business to conduct." Said Professor Dumbledore.

Alicia and Roger nodded then left towards the door. Just before Alicia closed the door behind her she noticed a shaggy black dog was sitting on the dark corner of the office. She thought it was a pet kept by one of the teachers and thought no more of that.

After the door was closed and sealed by magic by Professor Dumbledore, he spoke. " Professor Pasha, I would like you to meet another member of our resistance." He pointed at the dog sitting on a chair in the dark corner. 

Even the normally observant Ali Pasha was taken aback by the fact that he had not seen the dog there. The dog seemed hauntingly familiar. But even his enhanced memory had worked backwards sufficiently to remember, why it looked so familiar. He had seen the dog in his short stay in Hogwarts. He used to want to be that dog, as where ever that dog would go girls would pet and hug it. They could not resist his stray appearance.

There was a pop and then a man appeared, in place of the dog, which he wanted to kill using his bare hands. He went quickly for his wand to see that it was not in his pocket.

" I took the liberty of removing it," said Professor Dumbledore. "This, as you no doubt remember, is Sirius Black."

" I know who this scum is" he spat. He jumped on to the desk and ran full speed on top of Sirius, knocking him to the ground. He raised his fist to hit Sirius, but Snape stopped it.

" He's innocent." It was all that was required from Snape to convince Ali Pasha. He knew exactly how much Snape despised Sirius. It was much worse than James. Though for different reasons, which were not anger or envy, based on feelings of inferiority.

" He is." echoed Professor Dumbledore.

" Yes. I am." Said Sirius as he stood up, pushing the man on top of him fairly easily.

It was well over an hour, when Sirius finished his tale of events in his life after he was chosen as the secret keeper, but Professor Snape had left almost after he had started the story. It was too much for him to hear the story again. It was his fault that they did not survive the dark lord. He knew he tried, but tried was not good enough. 

" Why did you not ever try to protest when they tried bringing you in? It would have had turned out so well…" said Ali.

" It was hopeless. No one would have had believed me and I would have had made it just worse for Harry. Anyway, it was my decision to let Harry go to Morocco. I just wanted to know, if Harry will be ready for the tournament. I don't want him getting into the rink with Malfoy."

" You don't have to worry about this. He's not taking part."

" He's not? Why?" asked Remus.

" It's to do with Voldemort and the events of the TriWizard tournament," said Professor Dumbledore.

All the people in the room understood, though Professor Pasha also suspected that it might have something to do with, why Harry was hiding his true potential.

***

When Harry left the hospital wing he was surprised to see Alicia waiting for him in the corridor. She was smiling broadly, as if she knew things that others did not.

" How long have you been waiting for me?" he asked.

" Not long. So?"

" So… what?"

" What did Madam Pomfrey say?"

" Say?" he raised his eyebrow, " Nothing. She poked and prodded me all over… and I mean all over. I need a shower." Said Harry.

Alicia laughed. It was deep and there was even a snort in there. " Oops. Sorry…" she said blushing.

" It's quite okay. Never heard a girl laugh like that." He took one look at her face and realised that what he had meant had come out all wrong. "I mean, usually they are all giggly. I find it quite unnerving… you're different." Realising he had said too much he tried to cover his track. "I mean… you and Hermione. You're both like that."

" Coming from the great Harry Potter, the crush of many young women, women and even some men, I think I'll take it as a complement." She said totally shocking Harry. "What? You've never thought that some of the boys might like you too?"

" What!! No… I've never thought of it." He yelled very loudly.

" Oh my god! You really never thought that before, did you? It never occurred to you that while a lot of the girls were following around a few of the boys might be admiring you from a distance?"

" No. Never. Why? Do you know someone?" Harry had just totally freaked out. He had never thought on that topic before. He knew a fair few of the girls had a thing for him, but he had never even considered that a few of the boys might think of him the same way.

Alicia started to laugh at Harry's reaction. " No… I just wanted to see your reaction…" she fell to the floor laughing. A few minutes later he joined in one the laughter as well, when he realised what his face must have had looked like to Alicia.

" You're never going to guess who I saw today?" said Alicia as they walked into the hall a few minutes later to have dinner. 

" Who?"

" Professor Lupin."

" Remus is here? Here? Oh! Good. I haven't seen him for a while now. I can't wait to catch up." He said excitedly, but then he turned absolutely pale.

" You okay?" she asked, fearing Harry was sick.

" Yeah… I just thought of something." He said, " I have to go and see someone. I'll be back in a second."

" Okay…" Alicia said uncertainly.

No sooner had Harry headed out of the door, he bumped in Professor Snape.

" Watch where you're going Potter!"

" I'm sorry… I was in a hurry." Professor Snape saw Alicia standing very close by and instantly realised what Harry was trying to do.

" Remus Lupin and His Dog are doing very well. They are currently busy with Professor Dumbledore and Professor Pasha. I suspect they both want to talk to you, once that is finished. Wait for them to call you."

" Err… but I have to talk to…" 

" I know who you want to talk to. I was there. Remember. I know. But the fact remains, if you interrupt them now, they'll not talk to you."

" Okay…" said Harry disappointed.

" Good. Five points from Gryffindors for bumping on to a teacher and five more for arguing." He said leaving.

The Gryffindors in the nearby table let out a groan. As Harry sat down at the table, Hermione gave him a knowing look. Alicia went and sat with her friends other the other side of the table a bit further up from him. Harry ate his food in silence and then left after he was finished. All the way there he ignored a nagging feeling that he should sneak out of the house at night and go see Sirius, wherever the Marauder's Map said he was.

***

After the meeting was over, Sirius stayed back.

" Professor," he said, " I have a question. If you're willing to answer it."

" If it's within my power and not something I see as unreasonable, I'll try my best to answer your question, Sirius."

" Err… I was wondering. Is there any connection between Hermione and Lily Potter? I mean, they are both muggleborns, they had the same kind of eccentricities regarding house elves and books, they are both great at Charms, both had wild hair at that age. Both were quite plain in appearance most of the times…" Sirius was going to say more, but Professor Dumbledore put up a hand indicating for him to stop.

" No. There is nothing remotely similar about them. The only physical attribute that they have in common is their wild hair. Actually Miss. Ginny Weasley is almost a physical duplicate of the older version of Lily. The one that always used potions to straighten her hair before taking a picture."

" But then…" Sirius started, but Professor Dumbledore finished the sentence.

" Why do they appear the same to you?"

Sirius nodded.

" Well, to tell the truth, I saw that connection as well, in Ms. Granger. Especially when she received the extra ordinary feat in Charms class. I remember thinking the same thoughts, as you might not remember, but Lily Evans did the same in her first year and every year after that."

" Yes. I remember that."

" Well, it was in Ms. Grangers second year that I realised that she had the same kind of personality that made me think there was similarities between them. The fact that they are muggleborns and have wild hair is not a connection. It's the proof that we can expect more great wizards and witched to be born amongst muggles. You do know that extreme power at that age makes hair like that. I, myself, still have the problem." He said referring to his beard. "Harry has his hair… so did Lily and James."

" I can see where you're going with this… but how does Voldemort fit into all this? He's only second to you. He's had flat hair for as long as I can remember."

" That is still a mystery to me. Just like every rule that has a exception. Tom is also the exception. I might just be only good wizards and witches that are born with that particular type of hair. Even this is just a bit more than speculation." He paused and continues, "But make no mistake, as the pure blood families loose their strength through inbreeding, muggleborns will keep getting more and more power. That is something that frightens me."

" Why? I would think muggleborns getting more and more power would make the rest of the wizarding world realise how valuable they are and start to treat them better." Said Sirius truly confused.

" One would assume so, but living as long as I have, I know better." He sighed and continued; "It's much more likely that the pureblood families will use them for breeding… nothing more and then go back to inbreeding. This will last a few years…"

" Professor Dumbledore…" interrupted Sirius, "You're talking as if you know that Voldemort will not wipe out all the muggleborns. Isn't that a bit premature."

" He's a lot smarter than people give him credit for. He's done many evil things and he has a lot of plans for the wizarding world and the muggle one. He has planned a lot more than we have as a society. He knows what kind of structure he'll need to maintain his power… even if he is immortal." He stopped and said, "What makes you think that he's going to win?"

The twinkle in Professor Dumbledore's eyes made Sirius nervous. He was more pragmatic, having been in Azkaban. He knew that too much optimism was never good. 

***

The next morning, Harry awoke early as he usually did. He had managed to get rid of most of his odd behaviour that he had picked up from Morocco. Two odd habits still stayed with him: Gone were the days when it was uncomfortable to sleep on a soft bed, but his habit of saving in the morning was something that he had retained, so for that mater, the early rising one.

When he looked in the mirror, Harry was surprised to see that he had a five o'clock shadow. Boys at 16 were not supposed to need to shave daily. Harry was struck with a horrible thought. What if he was never able to keep his facial hair under control? What if he had a lot of facial hair like Professor Dumbledore? That last thought conjured up an image of him with a long beard and even messier hair. It was frightening.

He splashed water over his face to get rid of that particularly disturbing image. While he was shaving, Ron came into the shared toilet and saw what Harry was doing. He took out his own bottle of 'Tetania's Teeth Tarnish', a potion, which worked like toothpaste, but only better. It cleaned, polished and whitened the teeth. But that was only half of the job. It also got rid of bad breath, food particles between teeth and then strengthened the enamel.

" Gud 'woning" said Ron, though a mouth full of the tarnish. His sleepy eyes looked curiously at Harry. Then all of a sudden, they widened in shock and he sprayed out the content of his mouth at Harry. Harry had just shifted a bit to say hello to him, which is what saved him from getting hit by Ron's spray.

" What the-" Harry said in surprise.

" Sorry…" said Ron looking really guilty. "You've got stubble… no you've got a shadow!" he exclaimed.

" So?"

" Nothing… You're supposed to be older before you get a shadow like that one. I know… even I haven't gone to that stage."

" Really… it must be the same reason why my hair keeps growing. It's totally uncontrollable. At least in Morocco, it was controllable…" Harry stopped himself, when Ron gave him a quizzical look. He had said too much. The only way he could cover it up was to say, "The temperature I think had something to do with keeping my hair smaller."

" Oh! Okay…"

Harry wanted to get rid of Ron, but needed to do it politely. "What're you doing up so early?"

"We have classes in one hours time. Why else would anyone be up at this ungodly hour?"

Harry chuckled. "It's Sunday. Remember, you took part on the Quidditch trials yesterday…"

Ron who had started to use the tarnish again spit it out in shock. This time Harry did not manage to avoid it. " Ewww… Ron!"

" Sorry?" it was a question not an actual apology.

Seeing Harry's face contort in anger, Ron bailed from the room, barely avoiding bottle of tarnish being thrown after him. The bottle was made of unbreakable glass, so it was a good thing, as it hit the floor and slid away.

Now I have to get a shower, thought Harry. Though he had planned to take one, he had planned it after his morning jogging.

The shower took only a few minutes, but by the time he was done, he was in no mood for his running. He decided that he'd take a nice stroll instead.

When he reached his bed, he saw that the house elves had already made it for him and a letter was on his pillow.

It had one word on the outside. 'Snuffles'

Harry opened the enveloped greedily and found only a few words written:

**__**

Harry,

Use the tool for Magical Mischief Makers. Come alone.

****

Snuffles.

(A/N: HP4GrownUps is a great group. They reasoned that Marauders as we called them were actually called " The Magical Mischief Maker" since in all the places in the books it's referred to as "Maraud**er's** Map" not " Maraud**ers'** Map", what we call the Marauders are actually the Magical Mischief Makers. Makes sense to me. **The URL: **http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HpforGrownups) I think the Lexicon has the same sort of ideas.

' Tool for Magical Mischief Makers?' what is that? thought Harry. Then Harry remembered the Map. 

Marauder's Map! That must be it, thought Harry.

Since it had become obvious to him, after once returning to the room to find the map had moved again, Harry had concluded someone was been using the map without his permission, and had started to carry it around with him. He quickly walked out of the room and into the common room and then onto the corridors outside. A few whispered words and he knew where Sirius was. He was in the secret chamber underneath the womping willow.

Harry had walked only a few minutes and was almost at the tree, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. Harry turned around quickly, to see Alicia in her running clothes. So busy was he, trying to get to his godfather, that he had completely ignored the loud footsteps behind him. One could hardly blame him, he had not seen him in almost a year and he is the closest he has to a father or a mother.

" Hi!" he said quickly.

" Where are you going?" she asked, jogging on the spot. It took a second for her question to register in his mind and another one to think of an answer and remember how to say it, as his mind was still awe-struck at her appearance. Her black hair was tied in a ponytail and it bounced up and down with the same beat as her jogging. She was sweating in here ash coloured trousers, which revealed that she had been running for a long time, something Harry had found out that she liked to do for fun. What surprised him was that how nice she looked, even though she was sweating.

" Huh? Oh, No where… I was just taking a stroll around the Quidditch pitch. Big game coming up and I'm just thinking about past games. Anyway, How long have you been at it?"

" Almost two hours"

" Wow! Doesn't that bother your asthma?"

" It's because of the potion that I have to run so much. I have to burn off all the energy it seems to give me in the morning, otherwise my mind wonders in class. I don't concentrate and basically turn into a big airhead."

" Really? Hmm. I thought you liked running…"

" Don't get me wrong, I do love a long run, but not running for two hours or until I fall down from exhaustion. This is definitely not my idea of fun. I haven't slept in since I got into Hogwarts. Professor Mcgonagall insisted that I take the potion. Apparently she had the same problem when she was young, and if you take the potion long enough apparently asthma clears up. Anyway… I can feel my energy building up again, so got to go. Hey! You've got a fit body, you want to join me in running." As soon as she said it, she thought she shouldn't have. It was almost like begging him to go running with her out of pity.

" I would love to," said Harry.

" You don't have to do it if you don't want to…" she tried to make it clear that she would not mind it if he did not show up.

" It's quite okay. I was going to run in the morning, but Ron sprayed me with tarnish, so I had a shower. I really don't want to go for a run today. But I'll, tomorrow."

" That would be great." She said giving him a beaming smile. " I'll see tomorrow, if you can keep up with me." She said as she ran off.

Harry did not know how long he had stared towards her direction. The only reason he had snapped out of his trance was because there was dog, barking like mad. 'Dog!' He remembered about Sirius. When he reached the Womping willow, he found that the source of the barking was none other than Sirius Black himself. With a Pop, the dog transformed into the man he had been dying to meet for almost a year.

Harry hugged the now sturdy, well over six feet frame.

" Let me look you," said Sirius, pushing Harry out of the embrace and holding him at an arm length. " My god! If I didn't know better I'd say you were James!"

" How have you been?" said Harry nicely then he went into his furious mode. " Why are you here? You could get caught! What'll happen to me then? What? You're the only real guardian I have."

" Hey! Don't get so testy. I'm going out of here tonight. A friend of Remus' up north needs a sheep dog. Guess who got the job." He smiled. There was something in that smile that indicated that there was something more in that piece of news.

" What else? I can see you're smiling for a reason. Either I have a sign on top my head or you've got something more to say." Said Harry reasoning his godfather's stupid smile.

" Well… You see the friend of Remus has three beautiful daughters. You know country girl. Probably know nothing about "worldly things". I think I'll be their teacher." Said Sirius.

" Erm… That's well and good. I suspected something like that, but what makes you so sure that they're not between the age of two to ten."

The effect Harry would remember for a long time to come. Sirius's face dropped. He truly had not considered that. He had assumed that three girls meant three women of proper age. 

" What makes you think that the farmer won't neuter you?"

" What!" this time Sirius was frightened, " You're kidding me, right? Right?"

" Yes…but you might want to get some conformation from Professor Lupin… I mean Remus. You may also want to ask Remus to tell the farmer he does not want to get you fixed. Just in case."

" Fixed?"

" Erm… you know Chop/chop… I mean Neuter you."

" Okay. Good points. So I hear you saved an entire city full of people. How did that feel?" he said patting Harry on the shoulder. He did not let Harry answer the question, but started to say what he wanted to, " You know you scared the hell out of me. Pulling that disappearing act. I had thought you were dead. I was going to give myself up… damn near did it, when Professor Dumbledore's letter came to me telling you were all right."

" You tried doing what! You wasted away 12 years of your life because you cared about my parents. They would not want you to give up your new freedom for me, never. Neither do I. I love you like a father, but you just can't dies because I'm dead or gone. You've got to have a life outside of me…"

" That's easier said than done Harry." His voice broke as he spoke quite a few times. " I've missed you grow up for so long that I've got to see you do a bit of it, before I can have my own life… but not really mine. It would have to include you."

" Thanks," was all Harry could say. His godfather had just made it clear to him, that until he was satisfied that Harry had grown up, he would not stop worrying about him.

" All the mushiness is getting to me," Said Sirius. " Tell me what's new in your life… better yet, tell me why you were so taken with that Headgirl."

" You saw that?"

" Saw that? I was wondering when you'd hear my barking. I kept barking after she left, for five whole minutes, before you even looked at me."

Harry turned pink.

" Just as I suspected. Like father like son." Said Sirius, making Harry curious.

" What do you mean?"

" I mean your father dated a head girl first time in his 5th year. I think her name was, Nina Caraway… something like that. My memory is a bit shoddy after all the time in Azkaban. She was a blond goddess. Not your typical blond. She was built. Tall and well rounded… if you know what I mean." 

When Harry's cheeks turned a bit pink, Sirius realised his godson did know what he meant, just not very comfortable talking about things like that with his godfather. So he decided to cut Harry some slack and go easy one him. " I guess you do. I still don't know why she went for your father, rather than me. After all, I was the better looking one." He appeared to be thoughtful. " Then there was another girl… Rebecca… something… See What I mean by shoddy memory? I can't even remember the first woman that I had a crush on. Well, your father and me had a huge fight over it. We made up a few hours later. We vowed not to let a girl come between us again. Well. None ever did… I think the only time I was not jealous of the way girls seemed to like him like a stray puppy… ironic isn't it. I'm the dog. He's the stag. I'm supposed to have the puppy dog eyes. Well… anyway, the only time I was not jealous was when your father got some sense knocked in him by Ali, and started to date Lily. I tried telling him a few times that I thought Lily had a thing for him. But he would not listen…" Sirius stopped.

" Sirius? Can I ask you a question?"

" Yes. But I'll let you ask me another one."

Harry grinned, " Do you know when Mom and Dad's birthday were?"

" Of course I do." Sirius looked offended. Harry gave him an examining glare, and he buckled under pressure. " Okay. So I remember your father's. He was the one that bought gifts for her and said that it came from all of us. Anyway, the one that I know of is your fathers' obviously. It was 3rd of August for you father." 

Harry looked disappointed that he did not know when his mother was born. Sirius remembered something that he thought might be of some use to Harry.

" I do remember something though."

Harry's face brightened. " What?"

" I remembering commenting a few times to your father that he always had a thing for girls older than he was. I remember this particular time a few days before the beginning of the 7th year, we were at my house and I told him that may be Lily was next, since he always seemed to going for the older girls. He looked mildly mortified then…" 

Harry raised an eyebrow.

" Your father did not see your mother as anything other than a friend for a long time. Ali succeeded in making him realise what I had been trying to make him understand since the first time we both found out why girls are different to boys and how much more fun they can be…"

Sirius stopped and said, " Which reminds me. You do know about the Manena (A magical Flower) and Frukufly (A special type of insect that had a red glowing head) right?"

" What?" Harry asked, clearly not realising exactly what Sirius was talking about.

" I mean… you know…" Sirius was at a loss for words. Though he liked to joke about the topic, he was not good for a serious discussion. " Umm.. You know the thing you do with the lights turned off. Or on if you're more adventurous…"

" You mean Sex?" said Harry, suddenly realising what his godfather was trying to get at.

" Yes!" Harry thought that Sirius looked relieved. " And not so loud."

" Okay…" Harry lowered his voice so that Sirius was the only one who could hear it. " I've known about that stuff since I was 10. They teach us about that stuff in school."

" They do?" Sirius said, looking baffled. " I never knew about it until I was a fourth year and even then…well, lets just say, I had all the wrong ideas. Your father set me straight in our fifth, thank god for that. If he hadn't I think they might have sent me to jail by the time I was supposed to be in my 6th year." Sirius shuddered.

Harry tried to imagine what kind of warped ideas Sirius might have had about sex, but decided to stop, since he knew he would regret that line of thought.

" Since you know about that stuff, I think I'll tell you about the preventative measure you can take. It's a lot easier to explain."

" You mean condoms?" asked Harry.

" What are they?"

" Never mind" said Harry, " What were you going to say?"

" Oh… well. There is this spell you can perform on yourself. It basically makes it impossible for you to make a girl pregnant. Most married men use it. But doing it wrong can have embarrassing results. It's a spell that needs to be perfected in time with practice. But in the mean time, your best bet is to use a potion, simple enough to make. Boil about three cups of water; add three spoons of sugar, then three spoons of salt and three spoons of pepper. Then you add one leaf of Enine tree. You have to then cool it for a day and you add a bit of your own blood and Voila! Instant protection. You think you can remember all that?"

" Simple enough. Where do I go to get the En…" before Harry could finish the sentence, Sirius held out his hand and gave Harry a leaf.

" How long do the effects last? Not that I'm saying I'll need it. I'm just making a note of it for my N.E.W.T.S."

" Yes… I believe you Harry. One leaf mixed into that formulae would make enough to last year. Don't take any more than two sips at a time. That'll last about a week."

" Thank" said Harry, turning pink. Sirius was much the same.

" It's better that I tell you these things now and you're ready for them, then you totally miss the boat and make a mistake that'll haunt you all your life."

" It's time for breakfast and I have to go." Said Harry, " Promise me that you'll not try and come back at Hogwarts." Pleaded Harry

" You know I can't do anything like that." Sirius was going into one his serious moods, which were about as rare as a happy Snape.

" I know, but I had to ask."

" Okay. I'll be leaving in a few hours. If you want to say goodbye to me come and meet me at Professor Dumbledore's office. I wouldn't mind if your other two friends were also there. And maybe a new one…" He winked at Harry.

Harry just blushed a bit more.

As Harry left the Womping Willow Chamber, with the leaf in one hand, he kept thinking to how old his mother might have been. Or just when she was born. She was in the same year so she would have been of about the same age as his father, just a few months older. He found the parallels in his life and his father's life fascinating, but he also found it a bit disturbing. At least there is no chance of me falling for Hermione, thought Harry, as he remembered that Ron has a crush on Hermione and his gut told him it was mutual. Though rational Hermione never let very many of her feelings out, so it was hard to think justify his gut feelings.

" Hey!" for the second time that day, Harry was taken by surprise. Again the culprit was Alicia.

" Hi" said Harry, putting his hand inside his pocket to hide the leaf in there. He had done it causally, so Alicia never saw the leaf. " What're you doing here?"

" Well… nothing much. I'm going into the castle now. What about you? Your little stroll finished?"

" Yeah. I'm going to have breakfast now and then put on my badge and break up a few fights between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins. I'm sure there's one happening somewhere. What about you?"

" A hot shower and then a relaxing bath in the Head girl's bath room and then maybe I'll read a book. Preferably one with a sappy romantic ending, as I just can't seem to like the angst ones."

" Really?" Harry made a mental note to get her a romantic book as a present for her birthday. " I'm more into Quidditch books… but I like to read books on ancient legends as well. Not the real things in this library, but what the confused Muggle writers come up with."

" Well, we're here." Said Alicia, pointing at the door marked Head Girl only. " Thanks for the offer to go running with me. I'll expect you there at 5.45 in the common room tomorrow." She said, as she headed inside the bathroom and Harry had done a half turn, when she grabbed his arm. Harry quickly turned to find himself, only a few inches separating them. " Don't forget about the Prefect's meeting this afternoon." She said.

" Okay." Said Harry.

After Harry reached the great hall, and had his breakfast, he was going to ask for Hermione's help in researching the creature called Blissy. It was their mid-year DADA topic and they had to research and find an appropriate way to get rid of it. But students were told to do all the research and work by themselves, which meant, when Harry asked for her help, she gave a resounding no.

" You're supposed to do that all by yourself. I'm not helping you to cheat…"

" I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to tell me how to look for a book from the card files!"

" Oh!" Harry could have had sworn that she looked disappointed, " Okay… I'll show you. Ron?" she asked the person sleeping on his bowl of serial.

" What is it mommy?" Hermione looked genuinely disgusted at being called mistaken for Mrs. Weasley.

" Apparently nothing" said Hermione as she got off the table with a pile of toast and an apple from the fruit basket. " You coming?" she asked.

Harry grabbed a few pieces of food and ran to catch up to her.

" Hey, wait up"

Harry spent most of the day in the library, with Hermione as his guide. Most of the time Harry was sitting in the far corner with a variety of books, busily reading and glossing over material. He had not even noticed that Hermione had been staring at him cross-reference and collate all the information that he had gathered. Once he was finished for the time being, Harry looked up to see Hermione on a chair looking at him.

" What?" he asked, thinking there was something wrong with him. Maybe a prank by the twins, he thought.

" Nothing…" started Hermione, " Well, I can't really believe how much you've changed," she quickly corrected herself. " I mean you're actually studying, not going off to play that stupid game."

" Quidditch is not stupid!" Harry would have tried to defend his favourite sport, but he was not in the mood to fight with her. " Besides, don't you have to go to your Arithmancy class?" he asked.

" Oh! Hell! You're right. I have to be there in the next five minutes."

" Take the map," said Harry handing her the piece of parchment. " I honestly find it hard to believe that you're doing Arithmancy by yourself on a Sunday afternoon."

" It's the only way I could take it this year…"

Harry got up from his seat on the floor and walked over to her and gave her a hug. " Thanks for the help. Good luck and don't forget the Prefects' meeting." It made him think of how the reminder giving and taking role had changed between them.

" I won't," She said as she ran off into the dark tunnel.

Alicia was playing with the small wooden hammer, when the Roger snatched it away from her. 

" Is everyone here?" he asked.

" Yes." Said Alicia.

" Okay then. There are just two things on agenda today. First of all, let me introduce myself. I'm Roger Davies and this…" he pointed at Alicia behind the large desk on top of which he was sitting, but Alicia did not let him finish.

" I can speak for myself thank you. I'm Alicia Spinnett. Welcome to the first Prefect's meeting. First issue on the table is the frequency of our meetings. Basically, I want to have a meeting once every two week, Roger wants them every week. Can I see a show of hands, please? Who want's Roger's plan?

A/N: I think I've fallen for Alicia as a character in the fic. She might become more of a permanent fixture, in the chapters to come. Tell me how you guys/gals like her. There's a lot more character that'll be developed in the coming chapters, either way, so telling me you like her/ hate her… don't use because she's in the way of Harry/Hermione as a not-liking point.

A/N: Rejoice. My skills are better again. I think it has something to do with my Valentine… Sorry about the rough last chapter. I think I'll fix that up before the next chapter.

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
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	39. CH 39: Dreams

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 39/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 39  
**Chapter Name:** Dreams

The prefect's meeting took almost an hour to finish. It proved to be a lot more interesting than Harry had thought it would have been. As Alicia had suspected, most of the people were in favour of holding less meetings. This disappointed Roger very much. Prefects, being on the harsher side of Roger's speeches, were happy that they did not have to be at the meetings more than they were required to by Hogwarts rules. 

Alicia had wanted to do the second agenda—self-introduction—before the first. Alicia said a few words about herself, before asking the others present to go one by one. Harry was surprised to learn of a lot of different things about others.

He learned Voldemort went after the Slytherin families as well, and not just the other houses. Millicent Bullstrode, the tough looking girl that Hermione had started a fistfight in the second hair to get a hair sample to use in the Polyjuice Potion, was actually a very nice girl. She came from a long line of Slytherins, but because her father was an Auror, her whole family was killed.

Though this proved that Harry was right about not all Slytherins being evil, it did not make him feel better that he was proven right. Millicent was a confident person. She had lived in the orphanage as long as she could remember. She had no living relatives. Her interests included iced flowers and stargazing. Harry did not know what iced flowers were and would not have had known, unless Hermione had not answered his question.

" They are flowers they make out of frozen water."

" You mean like an ice sculpture…"

" No. I wish! It's very difficult. They make flowers, but the whole thing is made of ice. Very few people can get them right. It's said that only people with a good heart can make them. I've never tried it. Seems like a waste of time."

Harry just nodded and went back to listening.

After Millicent was finished, Draco started talking illustriously. He talked of all his achievements such as the times he had escaped narrowly from getting caught by muggle police on helicopters—from before he came to Hogwarts to his four years at Hogwarts. Once that was finished, he started on his illustrious family history. It seemed to Harry that Malfoy was making a lot of things up as he went along. Many applauded when Roger finally ordered him to sit back down. 

Soon almost every one was finished doing their introductions. The only people left were Harry, Hermione and Cho Chang. Harry had never known much about Cho and this was the first time was going to hear about her. He paid special attention to her. He was curious to know about Cho.

Cho stood up from her chair with a depressed look on her face, which she had all the time since the TriWizard tournament. She was not as confident as a few of the others, but she was good none the less. 

" I'm Cho Chang. I'm the 6th year Ravenclaw girls' Prefect. I was born in Britain, but my family moved here from China three years before I was born. My mother came from Shanghai and my father… Well, he was a muggleborn farmer. He became an Auror, and a famous one at that, after he joined the ministry there. He died a few years after my birth…on duty." Cho stopped a second.

There was a lot of sympathy for her in the room. A lot of people had lost their families in the war and from natural causes. They knew the grief, though few had experienced it like Cho had.

" Anyway, mother moved here before I was born. She fell in love with my stepfather a few years after I was born. Err… Oh! …And I have a two year old stepsister…Chloe." To everyone's surprise, a faint hint of a smile crept onto the corner of her mouth. Then amazingly Cho's face changed from a hurt one to one of joy. " She's very cute. She said her first word a few days before I came back. Er …I'm the seeker in the Ravenclaw Quidditch team…well… that's about it, I guess."

"Thank you, Cho." Said Roger, there was more than a bit of sympathy from him. His voice did not have the pompous quality anymore.

It was then Hermione's turn. Harry found out something about Hermione, something that he did not think was possible. 

"Who else is left?" Alicia scanned people in front of her.

Hermione grabbed Harry's arm in a very strong—almost bone crushing way, and it took considerable effort for Harry to not cry out in pain. He had built up a tolerance to pain while AstralProjecting, but in real life, he was not good at blocking the pain. " Ahh… yes. Hermione." said Alicia.

Hermione dropped Harry's semi-crushed hands as she was getting up, leaving Harry to tend to it. Hermione felt nervous and she could feel her throat demanding a precious drop of water. Just one, clean or dirty – did not matter, to get rid of the dry feeling that was there. Her heart raced and she thought if people did not stop staring at her, she was going to faint. Hermione waved her hand a bit, and said, " Hi." She then rapidly told about herself, which would have been okay, but she had her eyes closed, thinking that if she didn't see them staring at her, then they weren't staring at her. Hermione was great at public speaking – as long as the topic was anything other than he life. 

It scared her to reveal information about herself to people who were basically strangers. One could hardly blame her. Most people had shunned her all her life and over the years, she had learned to be protective of what she revealed. Harry and Ron were her best friends, but even they knew only handful of things about her. Harry out of the two of her best friends, knew the most. Having lived with her for two whole months, he knew a bit more about her, but even he did not know all that was Hermione Granger.

"I'm Hermione Granger. I'm the 5th year Gryffindor girls' prefect. I'm a muggleborn and I love reading. That's it." Hermione turned pink and then sat back down on her chair.

" Thank you Hermione." Said Roger.

Harry realised that Hermione was afraid of speaking public, but it did not make sense to him, since he knew she had no problem shouting about elf rights.

After Harry was finished, all the attention turned to Alicia and Roger. Malfoy did try to crack a joke about the fact that Harry had said, ' I can't think of anything more to say…" in his speech. Coming up with a joke that failed miserable. Even to the older Slytherin prefects, who simply ignored it.

" Well," Roger started, " The next agenda is the upcoming ball…" He was going to say more, when Hermione interrupted him.

"Isn't that at the end of the term?" She blurted out. Then remembering that it was out of procedure ask a question, while one of the head person was talking, she quickly covered her mouth. Roger gave her a look that clearly said that he was disappointed in Hermione. "It was."

This only confused people. But Roger was not done yet, " But because of the Dueling tournament, it has been shifted forward," said Roger. " The…" All the girls started to giggle and whisper amongst themselves. Even the Slytherin girls, who usually did not go around associating with other houses, joined into the whispered conversation with other girls. Harry and another 5th year prefect from Hufflepuff looked on uncomfortably, as the girls started to talk about dresses and dates. Even Hermione had joined into a whispered conversation with the 7th year Hufflepuff girl next to her. Even Alicia had started to talk to a Ravenclaw classmate. 

" Excuse ME!" yelled an outraged Roger, " I WAS NOT FINISHED. The nerve of you people…"

" Oh, Be quiet, Roger!" admonished Alicia. "It's just so exciting…"

" Exciting?" though he seemed to listen to Alicia and lower his voice, he was still very loud. We'll have to do Professor Flitwick's job! And all you can say is that…"

" We do?" Hermione interrupted again. Though this time she did not bother to cover up her mouth. Her face changed from the excited one she had before, when she had heard of another ball. But it paled soon after, when she thought the worst had happened to one of her favourite professors. Well, all of them were her favourite, excepting for Snape. " Why? Is he hurt?" she asked.

Harry was not surprised that Hermione had asked that question, and he was curious too. Though he never thought it could be because Professor Flitwick might have been hurt. The thought simply never occurred to Harry. Now that she had said it, the thought was particularly disturbing. He was one of Harry's favourite teachers—not because of how he taught, but much fun his classes were. 

" No! Not at all." Said Alicia, turning to Hermione, " It's just that he's going on a Holiday. So he won't be here to do decorations like most of the time." Hermione looked disheartened and Alicia knew why. She herself felt that way the night before, so she thought she just say what Professor Dumbledore had said. " Don't worry. We'll have an excellent replacement teacher…" before she could even finish the sentence, Harry spoke up.

" Is it Professor Lupin?" he asked, since it was the only reason that he could think of that made sense to him.

A murmur went through the crowd. They were all excited at the possibility of having the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher back, though Draco looked pale and sickly at the mention of the name (only people who knew him well could distinguish from his normal appearance). Millicent, though a lot more tolerant than her fellow housemates, looked a bit on the green side as well. Dark creatures frightened her, even if this one was supposed to be good. 

" No. It's not him." said Alicia, confusing Harry. He wondered why Professor Lupin was at Hogwarts. If it had not been to teach, why was he at Hogwarts? " Professor Dumbledore will be teaching the classes in Professor Flitwick's absence. I think Professor Dumbledore will announce it around the time of the holiday."

Hermione asked in a low voice, " Why did you think Professor Lupin was going to teach us?"

" Err…" Harry hesitated, before he whispered back, " I'll tell you later…"

Hermione nodded and went back to listening to Roger.

" … and that's why it is important that you wear your Prefect's badge at all times. I can see that a lot of you do not. Please make a habit of doing so. Well, I guess that's about it. I'll see you…"

" You mean 'We', right Roger?" corrected Alicia.

" Ah… yes. You're right. Well, We'll see you in two weeks time and if you are required earlier than that, Professor Dumbledore or one of the professors will announce it in the great hall."

" Thank you for coming," Alicia said, just before people slowly started to leave. Alicia and Roger had to stay behind, so they did not leave the prefect's room with the others. At any other time Harry would have been sad that he would not get to spend some time with her, but that day was different. It was the last time that Harry would see his godfather for a while. Harry knew despite his warning to his godfather, he would come to Hogwarts. 

Hermione followed Harry out of the room. She did not even notice when they entered a part of the castle that they usually never went into. She leaned closely on Harry to steal some body heat from him. Harry noticed.

" Cold?" he asked.

Hermione just nodded. It was one of the coldest parts of the castle, save the dungeons. But even before she nodded, Harry took off his heavy cloak, which happened to be of the thickest one. He was intent on wrapping it around Hermione. She did not refuse it, but she was concerned that now Harry would be cold. " But you'd be cold now!" she protested, all the while really wanting the cloak.

" I've lived in the desert and it is far more cold there at night." He said smiling, " Besides, it'll only be a minute until we're in a more warmer part of the castle."

Hermione could feel the body heat that was trapped inside the cloak before Harry gave it to her. As she warmed up, she began to feel safe and protected from all the harms of the world around her. A shiver ran down her spine. It was one of complete security. Hermione opened her eyes, when her body had warmed up enough to ponder other things. And pondering things was one of her specialities.

" So. Why did you ask if it was Professor Lupin?" she asked. Hermione suddenly realised that she was in a part of the castle that she had never been to, which was really odd. In the last four years they had a lot of adventures, and she had thought they had seen every corridor. " Where are we going?" she asked in a whisper, before Harry could answer her first question.

Harry leaned in close and said that, " I told Ron to meet us in Headmaster's Office."

" Why?"

" Snuffles is here."

" Oh…" she said, half-heartedly, then she realised what Harry had said and her face lit up with a brilliant smile. "Really? Wow! I can't wait to see him. So, that's why you thought Professor Lupin was here." Then her face darkened slightly. It was clear to her that Harry knew that Sirius was there for a while now. She did not like it when Harry had kept secrets. " When did you find out?"

" Last night." Harry whispered, not realising that Hermione was getting mad at him for hiding something like that. She had save Harry's godfather's life too, and as such there was a bond between her and Sirius. She never had an uncle, so he was kind of like that. Her only cousin's father had passed away, long before Hermione was born.

" Who told you Snuffles was here?" there was a hint of order in that question.

" Alicia did. Well, she didn't in so many words. She told me that Professor Lupin was here. I kind of figured that since Professor Lupin was here and he was supposed to be with him…"

" I get the logic." She sounded hurt as she tried to get past Harry's answer quickly. " Why didn't you tell me yesterday?" 

" Because…" Harry started to answer her, " you were too busy helping Ron with his Charms homework, and you didn't even pay attention to me when I tried."

Harry could have had sworn that he had seen her flush, but that was only a second, and he had to think that his excitement in seeing Sirius again was interfering with his powers of observation.

" Sorry. I didn't mean to come off accusative. It's just that…"

Hermione never got to finish what she had wanted to say, as Ron had just joined them. " Hullo. How was the meeting?"

Before Hermione could launch into a discussion about all the perfects and all the events of the meeting, Harry said, " We'll have to hurry if we want to see him off."

Harry whispered the latest password (Pumpkin Pasties) to the headmaster's office and four people met the trio. One of them was Professor Pasha, whom Harry had not expected at all. Although he was a friend of Sirius and his father back in their school days, to the best of Harry's knowledge, Pasha still did not know Sirius was innocent.

" Hello Harry." There is a bitter smile on Professor Dumbledore's lips that made Harry uncomfortable. It seemed to him that the professor had been stressed for a while. 

It was true, though he had not shared his concerns with anyone. Only the day that Harry had woken up from his sleep, he had realised that his memory had failed him. Though to almost anyone else it would have appeared to be a simple mistake, Dumbledore knew of the consequences that it foretold of the future.

It was Professor Dumbledore's decision to perform the ancient magic to revive Harry. But the day that Harry had woken up, he remembered an ancient text that spoke of another method. Although risky for the caster, it would not have had done any damage to Harry's magical abilities. He now feared that by using the ancient magic, he had inadvertently stunted Harry's magical progression in the long run. If that was true, Harry's powers would have started to grow much more rapidly until the driving force of magic in his body was finished. But had he not interfered, Harry's growth would have been slower, but Harry would have been much more powerful by the time he was of age.

This was the reason that he had been in a bad mood during the meeting with Fudge the night before. He had realised his mistake only few minutes before the meeting, and he overreacted. Still, what he had said, he had meant. He just wished he had done it subtly.

Harry did not have a chance to reply to Professor Dumbledore, when Sirius came at him. " Harry! I thought you weren't gonna make it." Sirius behaved as if he had not seen Harry at all. Of course, it didn't fool the others in the room. He had missed his godson terribly. It was almost like seeing his best friend alive again.

" Hello, Hermione."

" Hi. So where are you going? What did you come here for?" she glared at Harry and said as if it was his fault that she did not know these things, " We did not get the chance to talk before coming here."

" Nothing much. I just wanted to see if he was all right, you know after coming back from Morocco. He didn't even send me an owl about it." Now it was Sirius who was glaring at Harry.

" What? I was trying to keep you away from here. I knew you'd come here. I know Fudge is going to send the Dementors in here again. I wanted you as far away from here as possible." Sirius faked a look of hurt. " Sirius, you know I don't mean it that way."

" I know… er…" Sirius looked Hermione and Ron and said, " can you two excuse me a second? I need to tell Harry something."

" Sure. I guess," replied Hermione.

Harry wasn't sure why Sirius needed to talk to him alone, but he did not ask. 

" Harry?"

" Yes."

" You know the potion that I instructed to make?" Harry nodded. " It only works for the person who puts the blood in the potion. Be careful that someone else's blood does not get in there."

Harry blushed. His godfather was fully expecting him to use the potion. Almost like he was expecting him to be as much of a playboy that HE, himself was at that age. Not to mention, his own father's fourth year, when he had apparently dated more of the witches in the same level as him. " I probably won't be making the potion." Said Harry.

" I don't care if you are going to use it or not. I want you to make the potion. I don't want you to suddenly be in a situation when you need it and you did not take it."

" But –" Harry protested.

" No buts, Harry. This is important. You can screw up yours and someone else's life in a second. You have to promise to make it. Tonight."

" Tonight!" Harry looked at the corner of the room. Hermione and Ron were talking to each other. " What about them? How am I supposed to do it without them finding out?"

" I'm sure you can do it. It'll only take fifteen minutes."

Harry reluctantly agreed. If it was that important for Sirius, then Harry would do it.

" There's another thing." Sirius's mouth sprouted a very big grin. " Talked with Remus and found out that one of the daughters is a recent divorcee and the other two are too young. He completely forgot to tell the farmer about the…" Sirius made a hand potion that indicated a scissors' motion. " Good thing you told me…"

Sirius then guided to Harry's two best friends and told them, " Keep an eye on him. Don't let him do something foolish."

" Hey! I take–" Harry never got to finish that sentence, when Hermione chimed in and said that Ron and she would keep a very close eye on him. Harry felt that after what had happened in Morocco, Sirius would think that Harry was capable of handling himself. But then he remembered that Sirius did not know about everything that happened in the past. Harry had the urge to tell Sirius and warn him, but something made him hold his tongue.

Professor Pasha was watching everything that happened with a curious eye, and realised something—something that he would not dare share with anyone else. Something big was going to happen, but not anytime soon. 

Remus was waiting for Sirius's talk to finish with the trio, before he spoke to them himself. He explained how the school was using his special rink idea and had hired him to construct it. He explained that he was also going to be Ali's assistant as well. He did not say that his sole purpose of being there was to teach the children one specific thing.

Remus left with Sirius through a secret passageway that led to Hogsmeade. Harry did not know how the rest of the trip was supposed to be. Hermione wiped away a stray tear when Professor Lupin left. Ron made a joke that she had a crush on him, which earned Ron a hard punch to the arm from her. Though Harry probably could have stopped it, being in the middle of the two, he made no effort to. He thought Ron deserved that punch very much.

Professor Pasha stayed to talk with Professor Dumbledore, but the trio left soon after. Hermione finished telling Ron about the meeting and when Hermione told him about the ball coming up sooner then expected, Harry saw Ron's face become mortified. Hermione did not notice it. _Or, she's just not letting on that she saw him_, Harry thought. " Harry?" she asked, " What did you talk to Sirius about?"

As much as Harry knew that Hermione would agree with every thing that Sirius had said, he still did not want to talk about it with a girl. But he also did not want to lie to her. Then he saw a loophole in the question that Hermione had asked. She had not specified what time the talk had taken place. So he said, " Oh! That. Well, I asked him if he knew when my mom and dad were born. He only knew my father's. I still don't know when Mom was born."

" Oh!…" Hermione saw the distant look on Harry's eyes. She made a decision to find out the date herself and tell him. It would be her gift to him. 

At that point they could hear a voice shouting to get their attention. It was Alicia, who looked very flustered after running so hard to catch up. She had seen Harry's recognisable mop of hair pass just the edge of the corridor, and had ran at full speed to catch up. Though her breathing was not irregular, her face was red from the sudden exhaustion.

" Harry." Said Alicia.

" Oh! Hi. Have you been calling after us long?"

" No, just saw you and thought… I mean, I just saw you three walking back, and remembered some things that I had to say."

" What? Is it about the Run?"

" Yeah. Are we still on for that? It's not a problem if you aren't."

" No, I have nothing else to do at that time of the morning. I was going to go for a run, and since I'll have such beautiful company, how can I refuse?"

Ron's mouth fell open. He would have had started to sputter, but he had lost all ability to say anything. He could not believe his ears. Harry was flirting with the Head Girl, who seemed to be enjoying it! His eyes widened as Harry and Alicia started to walk. Alicia said something he really couldn't hear properly, and Harry laughed. Then Harry said something, and Alicia laughed. Once they were about ten meters ahead, Ron realised that he had been staring at Harry and Alicia's direction with his mouth open.

As soon as he realised it, he closed his mouth, but it was too late. Hermione was already on the floor, laughing hard at Ron's reaction.

When Hermione finally stopped laughing, Harry and Alicia were too far ahead to catch up to, unless they both ran.

" Did I just see Harry flirting with the Head Girl?" Ron asked, helping Hermione up from the floor.

" Not only that, you saw her flirting back."

" God! What's the world coming to? She's two years older! She has no business looking for a guy younger than her!" Ron sputtered.

Hermione just started to laugh again. This time it was not the good-natured one that she had before. Ron demanded to know why she was laughing at him. "You are a hypocrite! You're the one who went after the Veela woman! You don't have the right to judge someone like that."

Ron tried to defend himself. " Well, It's true. But the Veela charm made me do that. Besides, guys always have a thing for older women."

" So why is not all right for a woman to like a younger man?"

" Because –" Ron started, but he never finished the sentence with a legitimate reason. " Just because."

" Is that the best you can do? Ron, Harry does not have a crush on her. He's in love with her. At least it's more than a crush. When he talks about her, he does not have his eyes glazed over with lust. He knows a lot of things about her. He likes spending time with her. He's only been at school for two weeks and he already knows a lot about her."

" So?"

" So… Ron, he's not just lusting after her. He has genuine feelings for her." she tried to tell Ron, who was till not getting it.

" Again, what's so different about that? I lusted after Fleur, and he did that for Alicia. Now he knows a bit about Alicia. What's the difference?"

" Difference is that he knows he likes her and they are friends. You "lusted" – that's your word, and congratulations on admitting that, not using the Veela charm story ("Hey! No fair, you tricked me," said Ron. But Hermione just ignored him and continued her talk) – after her and you know nothing about her. Harry likes her; I'm not sure if he lusts after her, but he knows a lot about her. They have a lot of things in common. And I think they make a cute couple."

" Couple? – It's like you know they will get together."

" I can see them together. They'll be good for each other. Harry doesn't get much happiness in his life, and Alicia seems to be strong enough to handle herself when things get rough around him."

" Whatever. Mark my words, the day those to go out together is the day Victor Krum marries me." Said Ron, very confident that the Head Girl was not going to go for Harry. After all, one of the twins was in love with her. _If that's true then there sure to be some pranks pulled on Harry_, he thought. When he thought of Harry getting pranks pulled on him by the twins, it made him feel better in a sick way. But he knew that that would never happen. Good thing too, for he would hardly be able to choose between his brothers and his best friend.

Hermione smiled. "Better get a wedding dress ready, Ron," she teased.

It was a few minutes to midnight when Harry, armed with his wand, slowly made his way down to the common room. He checked to see if anyone was in the room, and found the room to be gloriously empty. Harry conjured up a glass beaker, and went to work on the spell. The only thing that was left to do was adding his blood. Harry did not know the words to make his wand end into a sharp point, so he transfigured one of the thick threads that made up the frill edge of the Persian carpet into a needle. The potion turned the proper colour and now he was ready to taste it. Harry hoped that he had not made a mistake.

He knew what the brewing of a wrong potion could lead to. He knew it from his 2nd year, but more importantly he found the book in the library, (Most common brewing mistakes and their side effects, by Vigra Heart-tak.). He prayed to Merlin once and took a sip. 

It felt like his entire body was slowly becoming numb. He could not keep his eyes open, when a sensation of someone trying to suffocate him reached his head. Then suddenly the world was back to normal again. He could feel his entire body feeling tense. To test the potion, he was to touch something smooth. If the sensation almost overwhelmed him, then he had succeeded. If it did nothing, then it worked, but the lifetime of the potion was only one hour, instead of the two weeks that it usually was.

To Harry's great astonishment, he had made the potion perfectly. The first sensation from the touch was almost enough to make him unconscious from the intense feeling; it took all the self control that he had built up in 10 months of Morocco to not succumb to it.

He checked the watch and was surprised that there was still a few minutes to midnight. He decided to go into his room and get the present he got Hermione in Morocco. From his trunk, he retrieved the invisibility cloak and the present he got for Hermione. He wrapped the cloak around himself, and slowly his body faded into the background with a ripple, like that of still water being touched.

He made no noise as he moved towards the girls' dorm. As always, it was unlocked. Harry slipped inside slowly and wandered through until he found her room. The third bed from the front of the room. She was sleeping in her bed – flying books were running away from a girl on the duvet**.**

__

No wonder she's always stressed about books, Harry thought, amused.

The duvet was made of soft silk, almost shimmering. Hermione lay under it, covered only up to her chest. She was not an elegant sleeper, Harry noticed. She had one leg over the cover while the other was inside. Her hair was a mess, as always, and looked as if it was getting ready to strangle her. With each breath, her chest rose up and down. The small open window just one bed away let in the moonlight. In its pale light Harry could see that her face was covered with sheen of sweat.

A bit afraid that she was having a nightmare, Harry shook her, trying to wake her up.

" Hermione? Hermione?" he said softly. She groaned unrecognisably as an answer. " Wake up, Hermione."

When that did not work, Harry called out the big guns. " Hermione. You're late for your transfiguration test."

Normally that would send Hermione flying out of the window, just like the possibility of finding an obscure little manoeuvre for a seeker would do to him, but this was different. She did not even budge.

That scared him suddenly very much. Harry dropped the cloak, and got out his wand. Suddenly it struck him that he needed to awake her. But for the life of him, he could not think of anything. He decided to try '_Enervate_' since it had the power to wake people from a stunning curse.

As soon as the blue spark hit Hermione, she sat straight up on her bed, coming to a full stop only a scant few inches from Harry's face. Before she could yell in surprise, Harry put his hand on her mouth and pushed her back onto the bed. Hermione squirmed under him, as Harry had to push himself on top of her to make sure that she did not make too much noise. Already, Melissa Gilbert, the light sleeper amongst the girls in 5th year, was already fidgeting in her sleep.

" Sushhh…" Harry whispered.

Hermione barely made out who it was in the moonlight. Harry waited until he could see her eyes finally register who was grabbing her. He slowly removed his hand from her mouth and his head on her chest over the duvet for a moment before sitting up.

" What are you doing here?" she whispered, as she sat up. She drew the cover around her to cover herself. There were hints of many different emotions in that whisper. Annoyance, anger, concern and relief were only the ones that he could make out. There was more, but he didn't know enough to make them out.

" Your present. Birthday present." He said, waving something in his hand that Hermione could not make out.

" Oh… really?" Hermione smiled at him broadly, then she got very concerned again. " You can get expelled!" she whispered as loudly as she dared.

" This is important. Sushhh."

Harry reached for the cover and slowly moved it, until her wand arm had been exposed. Hermione was wearing the cut-off variety of nightie, so her whole arm came into view. Harry moved closer to Hermione and slipped something around her wrist. It was something metallic.

A tingling sensation ran down her spine and goosebumps sprang up all over the back of her arm from the cool object. Hermione thought that Harry was going to stop, but he brought it up all the way to her upper arm, past the joint. Then she felt the metallic object—whatever it was—tighten around her arm. Harry removed his hand from her arm to reveal the object. Hermione was still uncertain as to what it was, so she turned on the bed, bed sheet and all, so that the moonlight hit the object.

" It's an armband." Harry said. " Freemen Women wore them to symbolise their independence and their belief that women have the right to do what they feel is right. Not what society or men dictate them to do."

" Why me?" she asked, still looking at the ancient carved writing on the metallic surface, which seemed to bend and flex with her arm. The writing usually changed the slight glow they had on them. The band it self was very thin, though a thin jewel was affixed in the middle. The gem looked colourless, but occasionally, it slightly glowed blue, green and red.

" Because you don't care what others think of you, you do what seems right to you. You started S.P.E.W, even though the whole school laughed at you. You stood by me in my 4th year, when even Ron doubted my word. You've been there for me. You keep and know most of my secrets. You keep them in confidence. That's what that armband stands for. When I saw it, it reminded me of you."

Hermione was speechless. Not only that, she could feel a teardrop welling up on the edge of her eyes.

" There are some things about the band that I have to tell you, though. It's not something that you are supposed to wear all the time. There are strict rules –actually just one. You can only wear it in a formal setting. Wearing it at any other time devalues the importance of the armband. Most people usually wear it also on special days in their life –like parties and celebrations, usually in front of large gatherings of people."

Hermione moved the duvet out of her way, and gave him a hug. It was the longest one that Harry had ever received, but Hermione started whimpering on his shoulder, where she had been resting her head.

Harry tired to pry her off him, but Hermione was holding onto him as if her life depended on it.

" What? You didn't like it? Oh! Great… I knew I should not have had got something like that. I think jewellery would have been nicer…"

Harry never finished that, because, Hermione had let go of one of arms holding him in the death grip and started punching him on the shoulder with it. " No, that's not why." Hermione pushed herself off from Harry only slightly, as it was comfortable to lean on him, and said, " This is the most thoughtful gift I've ever received. Thanks."

" Really? I wasn't sure if I should get you this or an out of print book. I probably would have got the out of print book, but I don't know any that you might have had liked. Or what books to look for."

" I'm not just a bookworm…" Hermione would have had started another lecture, but Harry stopped her.

" I'm not saying you are, but you like books an awful lot. Sometimes, I wonder if you even know we exist when a new copy of 'Hogwarts: A History' is placed in front of you."

" Hey!" Hermione pretended to get angry, " It' not like the same doesn't happen with you, Ron and that Quidditch game."

Harry blushed, " Well. That's true, but Quidditch is a great game. In fact, I will not rest until the day I make you-" he poked her shoulder, which was in his arms. " – Hermione Granger, play one game of Quidditch with me."

" That'll be the day. Well, I look forward to the day when you wrangle me into that."

" Stand up." Harry said, moving up.

" No way!" Hermione flushed. " Not in my nightie, and not in front of you…"

Harry thought better of it and decided that he would be too uncomfortable with that. " Okay. From what I remember, you are almost the same height as Alicia. You are built a lot…er…" Harry was not sure how to say it without hurting Hermione's feelings, but then again, Hermione was never much in for what others thought of her. " …slimmer than her, you're…oof." said Harry, rubbing his tummy. Her blow did not take the wind out of him, because she did not do it as hard as she could have had. " What was that for? I thought I was being sensitive."

"Girls don't like guys say those things about them, under any circumstances, no matter how well they are 'built'. Telling a girl that she has a nice figure is not something you do to win their heart."

" I'm not trying to win your heart."

" Heart. Favour. Same difference."

" So you'll consider playing a full game of Quidditch?"

Hermione shook her head. " Never!" Hermione was a bit loud, making Melissa, who slept on the opposite side of the room, yell out "Go to sleep, whoever you are, if you value your life."

Harry in a single motion, fell to the floor and wrapped himself up in the cloak. He shimmered out of existence, just when Melissa turned to see Hermione sitting up on her bed. " Go to sleep! I have classes tomorrow…" Mellisa lost coherence in her words right then, before she came back again, " tell your invisible friend that they are supposed to leave when you grow to ten years…talking in their sleep! Shish!" she lot coherence again. " Penon, peon, paragon, pantaloon, relic, grit, mite." Melissa fell back to her bed and went back to sleep, with a loud thump.

" I think I should go." Harry whispered

" Yeah. You should." Hermione was looking all around her, trying to find where Harry was. " Urgh! Can you take that thing off? I never know where you are, and never know where to talk to."

" Okay." He took off the cloak to reveal his head. " Okay, birthday girl. It's 16 now isn't it?"

" Yes." Hermione said, smiling.

Harry came forward and planted a kiss on her forehead, and said, " Sweet dreams."

~~~

A/N: If you guys did not get the **Vigra Heart-tak,** it's a joke. Viagra, the drug that's supposed to get old men "doing it", have been shown to cause heart attacks in them.)

A Special thanks to MaX aka LoneWolf, for as always acting as my sounding board. Brian Yoon for doing the spell and grammar check on this chapter. MythX for previous chapters. Marissa Robie for editing past chapters to ensure that they are grammatically correct.

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

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	40. CH 40: DreamsFantasyRealityMemoriesPassi...

This is an early release. There will be another release in the coming weekend. 

I got my first two proper flames. Both unsigned, so they will be removed. Telling me the flaws, is ok. But not pointing out reason behind accusations are not tolerated. If you want to flame me… at least find a reason to do it. If you have conviction in your own words, get a signed account and leave the e-mail visible. So people who disagree with your case, can talk back at you.

~Nappa

****

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 40/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 40  
**Chapter Name:** Dreams/Fantasy/Reality/Memories/Passion

Hermione started at the figure that rippled out of existence. She could hear the soft sounds of Harry's footsteps leading out of the bedroom. Hermione turned on the bed, and slowly let herself fall backwards. She felt a bit giddy inside, and she couldn't stop smiling.

On her wand arm was the gift that had touched her like no other gift. But then again, she had received few gifts in her life. Whenever she did, they were always books. Sure, she loved books, but after years and years of receiving them, she no longer felt the immense joy she had felt at receiving her first book. Harry had been kind enough to think a lot on the gift that he wanted her to have. He also had bothered to work out how many days she had gained because of the Time-Turner to give her the present at the correct time.

Hermione closed her eyes, trying to go to sleep, but she was too excited. Wanting to do something, she sat up in her bed once more and made her way slowly to the open window. She turned sideways to let the light fall on the armband. It seemed to radiate something that filled Hermione's heart with a feeling that she had received only once. After eating a bit of chocolate in her third year when the Dementors came into the compartment. A warm and fuzzy feeling that was almost indescribable filled her now—just as she had felt after eating chocolate in her third year after the Dementor scare.

Hermione examined the armband a while more and then she got an idea. Harry had said that it was to be worn only during important occasions, so what could be better than the upcoming ball? Mulling that over in her mind, she went over to her trunk and picked out two dresses. The first was her periwinkle-blue dress, which she had worn in the Yule ball the year before. The other was something that her mother had helped pick out when she bought her supplies at the Diagon Alley this year. It was made of vivid red silk that almost looked as if it shimmered. Almost. Of course, being a muggle dress, it was only a pretty illusion.

Hermione picked up the blue dress and went over to the mirror on the closet wall. There was enough moonlight in the room for her to see herself in the mirror properly. Though it was not her closet—_her _closet did not have a mirror. It had not had a mirror since a few weeks before last year's Yule Ball.

Hermione had been waiting for Ron to ask her to the dance and had turned down two dates from the famous Quidditch player, Viktor Krum. Not that there was nothing too wrong with the fellow. Viktor wasn't exactly handsome, nor was he exactly the perfect date that she wanted to go to the ball with. Her name had been already connected with Harry's, and she had a pretty good idea what the magical world's newspapers' reactions would be if she had gone to the dance with Viktor. She had picked up at least that much from reading muggle magazines at her parent's practice. She had no intention of sullying her good name.

But when she heard that Ron had tried to ask Fleur to the ball, she had been furious and reacted in a manner that she otherwise would not have had ever considered. She first went up to her room and threw the mirror out the window. It had shattered into a million pieces; even to this day, parts of her mirror were still scattered in the grass below her window. Part of her anger came from the fact that she had turned down the only person to ask her (_twice!)_, hoping Ron would ask her instead.

What she did next, she no longer considered a mistake. When Viktor met her in the library once more and asked her to the Ball, she had not hesitated in saying 'yes'. She had regretfully thought it a mistake when she had the argument with her best friends. But she had changed her mind at the ball. Victor, though he had a hard time pronouncing her name, had been an excellent escort. She had shocked a lot of the boys and girls that night, but her crowning achievement that night was when she made Ron's jaw drop. 

After the ball, it had hit her that Ron only had started to like her _more _only after that moment, while Viktor had been attracted to her because of her intelligence and her passion for books. Viktor and Hermione were both passionate about books (though he liked them to a lesser degree than did Hermione). He was kind hearted and had a gentle soul. He could get jealous—of course, he was still a man—but he only needed to be told once to make him stop acting foolishly.

Though they had never gone further than holding hands, Hermione could see herself liking Krum enough to get more serious over the next few years. But she still wanted to learn more and since there was to be no more studying (normally) after one left Hogwarts, she had planned to go on to a deserted place and do research on her own. It was one of her deepest secrets, one that she had never told anyone. Why she had not, she still did not know.

Hermione twisted her body several times, before finally deciding that the blue dress really did not go well with her armband. She had no intention of wearing something that would not fit together perfectly. Hermione really liked the armband. It stood for a lot of things, and going without it to the Ball would be like denying a part of her soul. To make things easier for her to decide, Viktor had already seen her in the blue dress, and so the red one was the only appropriate choice.

She quickly retrieved the second dress and held it up to her figure. She straightened and pulled at different parts of the dress to make it easier for her to imagine what the dress would look on her. She took an immediate liking to how the dress showed off her arms—more specifically, the armband. The armband shined on her arm, and looked as though it belonged there. Happy with her choice, she went over to her bed and carefully folded the dresses. She put them back into her trunk neatly.

She lied down on the bed and drew the covers back to cover her again, but she realised that she had forgotten to take off the armband.

Once it slid off her arm, Hermione held it up above her into the light, while she lay in the bed, covered up to her chest in the blue duvet. She noticed that there were three lines of writing around the jewel. One line, the middle one, had been done with a precision that made it look like it had been machine made. But the top and the bottom ones were different. It was very well written too, but it was not written with the same precision.

The symbols appeared to be Arabic to her, one of the most ancient languages, and one of the few ones that she knew nothing of—not even how to pronounce it. She made a note to ask Professor Pasha about it.

Hermione put away the armband and closed her eyes. This time, she fell asleep very easily. But unfortunately, sweet dreams they were not to be.

__

Bright light erupted at her eyes through her eyelids, hurting her eyes. The lights dimmed a bit, making it possible for Hermione to try and open her eyes. A black void greeted her eyes.

Nothing was there.

Nothing that could explain why she still saw the bright light when she closed her eyes.

There was a sudden flash of white, almost the same as those made by Collin's flash attachment, and she found herself transported to an island. She found herself looking out from the shores of a white sand beach into a calm blue ocean. The gentle waves lapped against the shore and she could feel (!) the water meeting her bare feet. The cool water, with sand between her toes, the warming sun and the cold, slight breeze filled all her senses.

There was a voice, a loving one. One that was eerily familiar, yet very different form any that she knew. " Honey? Where are you?" it called. There was love in that voice that made her want to seek it out and answer.

Suddenly Hermione felt the face starting to dip down, though she wanted to see who the person was calling her. With a start, she realised that she was not dreaming, but looking through someone else's eyes.

' Figures. I have to dream of someone loving me like that, and it's not even me that the love is directed at.' She thought wryly.

Her vision shifted from the horizon to the shimmering ocean, gleaming with reflected light.

There was another flash. This one was followed immediately by a noise that reminded her of the bullet train to France. The scenery changed.

This time, it was night. There was a small flash. A glowing figure—it was a man. Then another small flash. A dragon. The massive Iron Belly screamed in pain, as a massive serpent bit into the dragon's shoulder. Then the serpent withdrew its fangs, because of an ally to the dragon. It was a small badger, one that was fast and furious in its attack. Though the attacks seemed to do little damage, it was enough to annoy the great serpent into diverting his attack from the dragon.

Hermione thought that the badger was trying to buy time for the dragon to recover, but she changed her mind when the badger continued its relentless attack on the serpent. The serpent bore its fangs upon the badger, but not cry arose from the badger. The fangs did very little to slow down its attack. Then the serpent abruptly disappeared. The badger staggered over to the dragon, and started to lick the dragon's wounds. As this was happening, either the dragon was getting smaller or the badger was getting bigger; Hermione tried her best to figure out which it was, but she could not tell.

There was a flash again. This time it was bright. Very bright. She was back on the island again. This time the situation was different. The woman lay flat on the ground, sand and coconut tree leaves as her mattress. Hermione felt her heart beat faster, like the woman's—confirming her suspicions that she might be seeing memories. Otherwise, this was some kind of elaborate fantasy that her subconscious had conjured up to make her life seem more interesting. She did not think that was the case—that is, until she felt the next movements. 

Hermione felt a gentle hand on her stomach. It rested there, letting her body get used to the warmth. It lifted off slightly for a moment—just long enough to get her heart pumping faster than before. Then the hand started to make circular motions on her stomach, making it impossible for the woman and Hermione to keep their stomach lie flat. It caved slightly several times and the woman, enjoying the sensations, arched her back. But the man withdrew once again, determined to keep going as he had originally intended.

Hermione's—or was it the woman's?—cheeks flushed. Now Hermione was convinced that this was not a memory, but a fantasy. She felt no compunction to let it end. She doubted whether or not she even had_ the power at that time to make it stop. Even if she wanted to._

The man ran his other hand down her side, as he slowly increased the size of the circles he was tracing on her stomach. When his hands brushed the underside of her breasts, sensations in the woman/in Hermione was overwhelming. They were enough to wake up Hermione from her dream/memories/fantasy or something totally different that it was. There was a bright flash, and then there was only the void.

" What the hell was that?" Hermione cried loudly as she woke up. Her body was covered in sweat. Her nightie was soaked completely through, and it was sticking against her skin.

She did a quick overview of what she had just experienced, coming to the conclusion that what she experienced when Harry performed the healing magic on her was nothing like this. It never invoked that kind of feelings inside her. _But_, she wondered, _was it all just a fantasy, or was it something more? But who can I talk to about it?_

She could not talk about it to one of the teachers; they might think badly of her. Besides, that would just be too… embarrassing, considering what her dreams entailed. _Okay_, she thought, _that possibility's out the window._

She could tell it to one of her friends. Harry, having had dreams all the time, would be able to sympathise. Ron—well, she knew he would either laugh at her, or get jealous of the man in her dreams.

__

Parvati, her mind cried. _She's a girl, and she _must_ have had some vivid dreams like that. Maybe I should go and talk to her_, she thought. She was just too tired from her dream to go back to sleep.

" Go back to sleep!" yelled Melissa. Parvati, lying on the bed next to Hermione, was happily asleep and did not even wake up when two other girls echoed her sentiments, rather loudly. Hermione pulled the cover onto her face, just as pillows started to fly towards her direction.

__

One, two, three-four… five. Five pillows. Hermione counted. When the pillows stopped coming, she poked her head out of the cover.

Hermione got her glasses and read the time on her watch. What seemed only minutes, in her vision, had taken hours in real life. 

__

5:15am,it read.

Hermione threw off the bed sheets and decided that she would spend the rest of the time in the common room, reading the book about Harold Parker. Half way to the door, with the book in her hand, Hermione came to a full stop. She thought that Hermione thought it might be more comfortable if she took a blanket with her. She retrieved the one that Harry had left with her and headed towards the door. Hermione checked the corridor to see if anyone was there. Finding it to be empty, she made her way down to the common room, making sure not to make any noise. Students were not allowed in there for another few minutes, but Hermione really wanted to get warmed up by the fire.

It took Hermione very little time to get settled into her favourite couch. The fire crackled merrily nearby, slowly warming her. Once she was settle, she noticed that the Harry/Harold on the cover was blushing furiously. It was then she noticed that the Harry/Harold on the cover was desperately trying to avert its gaze from Hermione, who was only in her nightie.

Hermione blushed as soon as she noticed that it was making the portrait very uncomfortable. Hermione drew the blanket around herself to cover-up herself respectfully.

Hermione went to the contents page, and started to look through the list of event.

__

……

The first wand …………21

History of clan Dippet…………… 23

The Staff……………25

The rise of Kul Usakh ……………27

The new mission……………28

GoodByes……………28

The Capture of Shazar Sebastian……………29

The battle of Erabon verted!……………36

The tattoo ……………37

The final goodbyes…………40

……

Hermione was torn between reading the book sequentially and jumping right to the capture of Shozar. Harry had not said what or how he had stopped Shozar as she had asked deliberately to be kept in the dark. 

Finally her academic side on, and reasoned that the only way she would come to enjoy the ending, if she actually read the whole book.

Hermione had already known about wand, so she did not read that chapter. 

**__**

History of Clan Dippet

Something that I did not expect Harold to talk about was my years in Hogwarts. Those years were some of the best that I've ever had. I did not know how he knew that I was a headmaster there, but he knew. I never asked. One of the many questions that I never asked.

I was born in Britain. My birth father was nothing more than a play boy. He monopolised my mother and then left with her to be taken care of. He came from a long line of pureblood families. So did my mother. She was only 21 when she had me.

After my father left, she brought me up, despite what my father did. She loved me more than I could have had hoped for. I, myself, have doubt that if I could have had done so.

I was eight when my mother remarried. His name was Joshua Dippet. Yes. I don not bare my own father's name but the name of the man who raised me. There is a reason for that. After two and a half years of wedded bliss, my mother died of a rare disease. Jonthin Syndrome it was called. It caused the deterioration of the walls in a person's blood vessels, allowing the magic inside a person to seep into the blood, poisoning it. The cure was discovered a while ago and all wizards and witches are treated with the vaccine when they get it. The vaccine also removed most of the poison from a person's blood to make it possible to heal them. It was too late for my mother.

Joshua, my adoptive father cared for me though he only knew of my mother for two years. He worked very hard to earn money. My mother's family had disowned her because she remarried a muggle man, so there was no money for me to go to Hogwarts with. Joshua worked day and night, to gather enough money to send me to Hogwarts.

I changed my name to Dippet after I graduated. The muggle man, who loved my more than my father, had made me the man I was. What I did was the least that I could do to honour his memory.

I got a teaching position in the primary school at Kensington Drive and began teaching. There was a ban in the children that were allowed to go to Hogwarts in my time. I wanted to change that. I studied long to get a teaching position in Hogwarts. I was the potions teacher.

It was several years before my predecessor met an accident at the hands of a werewolf in the forbidden forest. I was chosen as the headmaster because, there was very little in the way experience in the teachers who wanted the job.

While I was the headmaster of Hogwarts, I made a nuisance of myself with the school board. I wanted muggle born children to be allowed in. It was after seventy nine years of annoying them, that they finally agreed. But they laid out conditions, which I had to follow.

The first was that I resign and appoint Professor Dumbledore as the next headmaster. They wanted him because they thought the heir to one of the very few pureblood who can trace their origins to the time of Merlin himself, would go along with their plan and revoke the idea once he came to power.

It was a good thing that they knew not of the real Professor Dumbledore. HE was a firm believer that the muggles were needed to keep the magic flowing strong in the magical world.

From the above it may sound like a picturesque life, but I have made mistakes. Many of them. What Harold asked that day, was a reminder of one of my mistake.

I taught and believed Tom Marvolo Riddle. This boy was my prized student. But he turned out to be Lord Voldemort. I believed when he accused Rubeus Hagrid, of being the person who was petrifying the students in Hogwarts. A mistake that did not realise until it was too late to rectify my mistake.

A mistake that I will regret since the day I die

Blind trust in anyone is not a good idea. People make mistakes. I made one, though I am not the one that is paying for them. I will never forgive myself for my error. I just hope Rubeus Hagrid forgives me. . 

****

The Staff

My mother was a mage. She made a staff, but the staff never accepted me as it's master. But I kept it with me none the less. Hoping that someday, I would find the person that the staff would accept.

To my greatest surprise, the person was Harold. I do not know why, but the staff accepted him at once. The jewel changes to the colour of it's master once they meet.

It was three months into the journey, that I gave Harold that. Though I knew before that they were meant for each other, I did not give it to him. He and the staff worked a magic that I had only seen from one of my other students. Albus Dumbledore. Both were very proficient in their magic, but more than that they were people of the heart…

A noise coming from the boys' dorm door attracted Hermione's attention. She looked up and saw, Harry stumble in through them. There was another noise. This time, it was from the girls' dorm. It was Alicia. They did not notice Hermione, as she was still very much in the dark part of the room. She saw Harry and Alicia standing together for a split second and it made her face form a grin. An evil one.

__

I think, I will go pick out a dress for Ron now, she thought. 

****

Coming UP:

Harry AstralProjecting first time after coming back.

Percy's first class (funny)

Dementors arriving.

More on Dumbledore's mistake and first signs of Harry's exploding growth.

Harry and Alicia's love life get started.

More on Hermione's Dreams.

Fleur's madness.

Maybe : Quiddich Match

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

A/N: A lot of people don't own the charity book that JK wrote on magical creatures, so I'm including this for their benefits. Iron Belly is a type of Dragon. It is the largest of all the dragons in world.

A/N: the comment at the end of last chapter, telling people about Vigra Heart-tak, was not me insulting people's intelligence. I would never do that –since I'm a review hog. I want reviews. It was me explaining a joke, in case I was not clear. 

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Brian Yoon: This chapter and the last one – they have been of very high quality. It's all because of him. My writing is at best sometimes good, sometimes okay, other…well, you know the story. Well, the last chapter was in the okay region. He made it better. Do me a great favour and read his work. He is one of the best (The greatest is **Parker**) writers that I've ever read. His 'With Love' is something that I made an exception to read. It is great. So is 'Time' and 'Dancing Forever'.

http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=144844

Constantine: Author of 'Requiem'. Which is a from ehat I've heard a great angst fic. I just have to stop being Neville about angst and just go and read it. He wrote two exceptionlly high quality R/Hermione fics, that I read the first one of. It was awesome, though I kept pinching myself to stop reading. If you have a good tolerance for those, please read the stuff. http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=136932 

Dauphin: I'm a very big fan of her work. 'Let History Repeat Itself', is a work of art. There's some interesting things that will show up on this fic. One thing I will warn you about is she is a no shipper. She is writing the fic, and has almost has her heart set on specific pairing. It is not H/Hr, and I'm trying my best to convince her (she might be buckling…keep praying). I hate draco/Hermione fics, but I will make an exception to reading this fic because Draco in this is different from first year. And Ron Bashing… The best. Ron is not even that good in Chess…. HAHAHHAHAHAH.

If you want to be notified of updates (i.e. get an email telling a new chapter is up), then join the mailing list at:   
http://www.topica.com/lists/nappa_fans  
Only people in that list will receive e-mails from me telling that a new chapter has been added. NOTE: if you use Hotmail, then you might have to check your Trashcan and the bulk/Junk mail folders. Sometimes Hotmail puts email from that service in those folders.


	41. CH 41: Emotions

I gave out a draft copy to a few people. To them: Read it again, as things have been changed a lot.

Sorry for being late, but I've been in the hospital, with an infection where I had my surgery a few weeks ago. So had been keeping me inside the hospital – Rest and a lot of antibiotics. I seem to get sick a lot :( anywho, read the fic. It's 11,000 words (was supposed to be 2 times the ammount...sorry... I alsodid not get as far as I wanted to) and one thousand of it's dedicated to you – the reader. REVIEW.

~ Nappa

****

-------------- Read this: Very Important --------------

In the reviews, put your email, if you have questions. I will reply to them personally if there is one. 

****

A few questions had been asked a lot so here are the answers:

Hermione's Age: Quite frankly we don't know how old Hermione is. In UK (real life), if children turn 5 or 6 (I can't remember which age they have to start school) before September 1st, then they start school on September 1st. But since Hermione's birthday is on 19th September, we don't know if she is 15 or the cut off date is different in the wizarding world. Most people like Hermione to be 15, the youngest and also the most mature one (while Ron the oldest is the most immature), but in my fic, I don't need that to be proven, so I _chose_ 16 year old Hermione. On that note, some one said that Harry, after the events of Morocco, is older than Hermione. **That is wrong**. Hermione is actually still slightly old – Remember I have Hermione as 16. 

****

AstralProjection & Animagi: Some of you think that I've forgotten about those. Nope. Never. But the last 5 chapters have been over three days and all training halted after Harry had a fight with Hermione (for Animagi). The AstralProjection one… I will say it again. Harry cant's do it yet… first of all, the castle is magical, the ground on which the castle is magical, so is everything inside the castle, so is almost anything. The air has thousands of years worth of residual magic – which has only increased since Lily Potter went to Hogwarts. Learning in a totally muggle house took several days, How long do you think it should take for Harry to get back to that level again? -------------------- Exactly, a while – a very long while. Not only that, but Harry has to do all of his training again, which is lot harder than it was in the muggle world because of all the same reasons. In the fic it's only September 11th. A lot has happened in only ten days, but fear not, they will start again… slowly. :)

****

Hermione: Got the most interesting review regarding Harry/Hermione. Putting forward reasons why they should not be together in this fic. About Harry growing up – There are only two people (Professor Dumbledore and Hermione) know for sure that Harry was in the past. Professor Pasha has been told, but he has yet to see the proof – Professor Pasha still thinks that Harry knowing how to cast a multiple illusion charm is not a thing that can link Harry with Harold. Harry even hid the truth from his godfather! Hermione did not demand to know anything. Harry knew, since they were basically studying about Harold and Morocco, he would get caught out. And more than likely it was going to be Hermione. So before Hermione accidentally said something that might tip off someone else, he decided to tell her. If she knew from the beginning, then she would not let on things, if they were even remotely in the same topic. Hermione wanted to know all those things about Harry after he told her. It is a legitimate demand. Hermione did not really finish reading the books. She did not know of Harry's wartime experiences. Once she found out even sketchy details (especially the attempted rape of Melina…) she asked him to just answer a few basic questions and she left the topic well enough alone. She was caring enough to understand he needed to keep somethings secret, so she stopped asking. She is awfully interested in Harry's love life – I admit that, but that's not sibling like. It's more, her checking to see if he is on the right track with the girl that she thinks, he is perfect for. It's a concern that normal friends have for each other. I tend to be overprotective of my girl friends (ie. Friends, who are girls but do not have feelings for them romantically – BTW, I did already date two of them, so I know where I'm coming from). Harry and Ron have already corrupted Hermione to a degree, expect more of that. :) :) H/Hermione? –you have to wait to see. H/Hr that I have as a keyword, it's platonic so far. I've answered this question many times and will not answer it again. Hermione not being worthy of Harry? – I've always felt that Harry in the cannon is very lucky to have such a loyal friend. She is the only one of female persuasion that gets into trouble because of her loyalty to Harry. I think Harry has yet to show his loyalty to her. 

****

Ron: Commentator? – You don't think I should? I would? Well, whether or not I do that, you'll still like it. (*evil grin*) Evil? – Nope! Never! I don't like Evil!Ron. Stupid!Ron, Idiotic!ron, Egotistic!Ron, Stubborn!Ron and my favourite Wrong!Ron is quite okay with me.

****

Alicia: Mary Sue? Nope she has faults, like everyone. Her faults have shown up in the previous chapter, you just have to read between the lines. H/A? – Umm… wait and see.

****

Not enough ideas?: Someone asked me if I have enough ideas left to write the 5th year let alone the 6th and the 7th year. Believe it or not, I have the whole 5th year planned. All of it. :) Just have to think up the dialogue and some fun bashing as I type up the chapters. The 6th year… the major plot-points. 7th year the ending (there's two of them… and both would be released at the same time).

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Beta and Schnoogle.com: I have Marissa working on the topic, but I have not received anything from her… she might be busy with other things. But in either case, Brian Yoon is CONSIDERING to edit from the first chapter. If that happens, believe me, you are in for a treat! : D As he does the chapters, (if he does do it… he has two other things on top of school that he has to do), I will replace the chapters I have on Fanfiction.net. I would suggest people that **if** that starts to happen, go back and start reading from the beginning.

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Reviews: You guys are the best! I think I have well over 550 Reviews. (On the last count I think it's approaching 600. I stopped counting after the 500 mark. But this chapter is 10000 words (was supposed to be longer.. but I got sick sorry)– without the words above this question answer session. So please Review.

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Anything I missed? Yes?… email me or review(leave you email address)**, I will attempt to answer them personally. **

~Nappa

* Chanting …. "Review… Review… Review…" *

Title: "Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling" ( 41/? )  
**Author name: **NAPPA  
**Author email:** imran_webjump@hotmail.com  
**Category:** Action/Adventure, Humour, and Romance  
**Keywords: **H/H, 5th year, Dueling, Animagi  
**Spoilers:** All books  
**Rating:** PG13

****

Summary:  
The summer after his fourth year, Harry discovers that he has a cool new power. Since the Dursley's leave on a vacation, he ends up staying with Hermione's family. That's not all... What happens when Hermione's family decides to take the vacation they wanted to go on? Deatheaters, Dueling tournaments, fighting in the deserts of Morocco, war, peace, treaty and mysteries all come into play. See how Hermione changes and witness Ron's ever increasing insensitivity and jealousy.

****

Disclaimer:  
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers include but are not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

****

Chapter Number: 41  
**Chapter Name:** Emotions

__

I should not have had gone on that midnight trip to Hermione's room, thought Harry, as he jumped out of the bed. 

Harry was supposed to wake up at 5:15 and had relied on his biological clock. But that was the first mistake he had made and when the early dawn light graced his faced, he awoke with a start.

Rushing about the room, he collected his running clothes and then he made another mistake. He looked at his watch. _5:35 am_, it read. Panicking, Harry rushed into the shared dorm showers and ran right into an open stall, picking up teeth cleaning tarnish on the way.

In his hurry, Harry made another mistake. He let the water run and then moved into the warm water. The soap went into his eyes and it stung. It would not have had been a big deal, had he not had the tarnish contained open because he was trying to speed up the total morning ritual time. The contents spilled over his body, making his feel like he was drowning in the tarnish, as the strong smell entered his nose.

__

Merlin, help me, thought Harry frustrated. 

Then something happened that Harry could not explain. It intrigued him greatly though, when he once again saw runes in the back of his eyes. This time however his eyes stung, making tears appear in the corner. It was almost as if, his subconscious was looking for something. One by one, three runes came out of the vertically scrolling line, and then they merged again – just like they had in Morocco. There was an irruption of white light inside his eyes that made him think; he would loose his sight. Then as fast as it had come, it was gone, leaving him with a rather crisp and colourful reality that had intensity to make him feel sick. Everything appeared to be more colourful and more focused, to the point of hurting his eyes, but then the colours and things went back to their dull selves. A quick look in the mirror, which was on the shower stall wall, he was fully dressed in his running gear and the water had stopped coming out of the shower head. 

__

What the… Harry started to say out loud, when his internal clock told him that it was 5:45 am. Harry quickly checked his watch to confirm what his mind was telling him. After the event of this morning he was not going to take any risks. _I'll talk with Professor Dumbledore later_, he thought as he rushed out of there to look for his shoes. 

He found it near the door and as he leaned on the door to put it on, the door, which was only slightly closed, opened and he fell into the common room.

Alicia woke up right on time and watched the sunrise, before she set about finding her clothes from her closet. By the time she had finished, it no longer resembled the neatly ordered one that was there before. For some unknown reason, choosing the clothes seemed to her almost like getting ready for a date. A number of times she was tempted to wake Katie, but did not, fearing that Katie would go ballistic for loosing out on her sleep.

Finally once she had settled on what to wear, she was amazed at herself for choosing what she had worn the day before – less the sweat and grime from that day.

A very quick shower and she was out of the dorm room. She tripped on the shoelaces at the door and fell to the floor with a thud.

" You all right?" asked Harry as he helped her up.

__

Strong hands, thought Alicia as she was being helped up. Her cheek blushed at the closeness and her own thoughts. " I'm fine… It's my shoelaces. They… I mean, I forgot to tie them."

" I had the same problem as I put mine on too…" Alicia raised an eyebrow, indicating that she needed more info. " …I was leaning on the door and it fell open. I just feel through it while I was putting my shoes on. I just put mine on and you crashed through the door as well."

Alicia laughed, " We're not on a great start are we?" she said.

" Maybe we're not supposed to go running today." Said Harry joking.

Alicia's face darkened very slightly, then she put on a smile and said, " Are you chickening out?"

" Depends, " Harry lied, " How much do we run?"

" Five times around the lake and three times around the Quidditch field." She said in a matter of fact sort of way.

" Really?" Harry could not hide his surprise. In the desert he had to run to keep away from enemy, find shelter from magical and muggle beasts, but even he did not think he could do that. _Especially in less than two hour,_ He thought, _I'm likely to fall down before the fifth lap of the lake._

" Scared?" she teased.

" No!" he cried before correcting himself, " It's just that… well, I really don't think I would be able to finish the laps around the lake, much less go around the Quidditch field – three times no less."

Alicia smiled at him, " Don't worry. You have a fit body…I mean you look fit enough keep up longer than most of the people I've gone running with." It was very true. Oliver Wood was the only other person that she had gone running with who could not only keep up with her, but was actually much better and faster than her. Although he did not take the same medication that gave him all that extra energy in the morning. 

" So you wouldn't mind, if I fell over after the 4th lap." He asked sceptically.

" Nope and you should have a bit more of self confidence." She said to encourage him.

" Thanks." He said blushing, " Well, we'll see, if I can actually even get up to that 4th lap."

" Okay… You want to race to the lake…" she said, but before he could answer, Alicia took off.

Harry started to run, " Hey! That's cheating…"

Hermione watched the exchange with a sly grin of face. She was severely tempted to tell them to cut off the flirting. Hermione was happy to see a very big smile on Harry's face as he took off after Alicia. It would have been the first time after Harry had returned that he looked relaxed and actually enjoying himself. After he had taken off, Hermione went back to her book.

**__**

The new mission

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Harold was, why did he ever change him mission to go to back to his family in England, rather than stay in the forsaken desert. Especially In a time, when it appeared that god had abandoned humanity.

Several things happened around the time of him changing the nature of his mission in Morocco. There could have been three possible reasons as to why he might have had changed his mission.

First one was a mysterious letter that he had received. Harold looked saddened at the letter. He never told me of the contents of the letter, nor did we ask each other any other personal question after the night he confronted me about Tom Riddle. No matter what was the content of the letter, Harold seemed determined to go to England and we never wavered from our original mission.

The second possible reason is the one that most people think is the most likely one. With the rise of the new charismatic Tozan leader, Harold felt that the war was almost at an end and it was safe for him to go to the Cartova Mountains and catch Shozar. It is a bizarre logic in my opinion. I have always failed to see the reason why he would stay in a war torn country when he was only days from going back to his own country.

But it is my fir belief that all that changed the night he went into the city of 'Yor'ka'. 

It was a freemen city, but it had banned me for life, for a crime I did not commit. My face was very well recognised there and as such I did not dare go in there, less they kill me. Harold went into the city to get water and supplies, as he had picked up enough Arabic to safely negotiate for them.

I have reconstructed the rest of the story on the basis of what he and the victim on that night had told me and what little of it Harold would answer to me when I asked him. Harold had just entered the city. After he had gathered water and supplies, he was almost out of the city gates when he heard the cries of a woman. He saw people pass the alley, where the noise seemed to originate, but no one paid attention to the cries. It was a far too common thing to happen in that city and people ignored them. He ran into the alley to see what was happening and to offer any help he could. The scene had shocked and horrified him. It was a woman and her child that were under attack from two men. One held the woman down against the wall, the other held a staff pointed at the child. He was threatening the mother to submit to the will of the other man, otherwise see her son be killed right in front of her. According to the victim, Melina Khan, the fight between Harold and the two men was very short lived. The mage holding the baby hostage had been over confident and decided to remove Harold. In doing so, he left the baby alone, which was a grave mistake, since they then had nothing over him.

According to Melina, who was the only one there, she had never seen such rage and fury from one person. It was almost as if they were threatening someone very precious to him. 

A solitary teardrop fell from Hermione's face to the book. The ink dissolved in the salty tear, but then when the wetness decreased, it went back to normal. The occurrence was much more horrible then she had thought it would be. _Harry must have had been furious because his mother was put to a similar situation as well, _thought Hermione._ She was told to chose her own life and that of her child, no wonder Harry had gone ballistic._

It was the first time that Harold had seen the ugly side of war. Before that day, we avoided cities and people like plague – only going to them when we were in dire need to go there. I've seen grown men cry when they see the darkness around them, but Harold was of stronger material. He seemed to feel that saving this war torn country was his responsibility. The first time I had seen him smile was when he arrived with a child and a woman to our campground. The first time I had seen him genuinely smile was when he held the baby in his arms. I think it reminded him of the innocence that was still in the world. Possibly it was for the baby's sake that he decided to go to Cartova Mountains, instead of just making it a stopover.

How he came to know that is still a mystery to me. My seer ability was no help during that chaotic period of time. Future is always uncertain, but a possible view into the future during that time was impossible. It has been recorded by the Guild of Divinators (see appendix II) that during the time after Harold's arrival, all their previous predictions had become erratic. It was almost as time was being written for the first time, which is quite impossible. Teams of Magi-scientist have looked around and found no reason why the seer's abilities were massively hampered by the arrival of one person. For more on that topic read " Harold: a time dilemma" by Professor Noban Nesbat.

****

Goodbyes…

It was three weeks later, when we were within viewing distance of the mountain, did Harold tell me and Melina to make our way back to the nearest city. It was going to be too dangerous for either of us. We knew not why he was separating from us, so we did not go with him. It would be days before I would hear of what had happened.

Our goodbyes were short. I returned the money he had given me to take him to Cartova. Melina and Sanoe were both crying, but the child was crying because of how his mother was distressed. Melina told me that it felt to her as if her own child was going off to battle. In all the times that she was with us, she was like a big sister to Harold, who I could tell had never experienced much love in his life 

He had an unusual air of confidence in himself that day. I did not know why but he said, "I'll be back…" There was a rumour going around, when we reached a safe haven, that the leaders of both clans had agreed to meet at Erabon, previously neutral territory and fight the last time. The loser of the battle would surrender. The battle for the first time, would involve the killing curse… The war was no longer about ideology. It was about winning.

Hermione snapped out of the daze she was in then. She knew from reading the book and other resources on Harold, and Morocco during that time that the war from the very beginning was almost bloodless. The war was fought over an ideology and the idea on both sides was to win and make the other side accept their superiority. Very few people died, because it was simply not worth the effort to kill someone.

For the second time that night Hermione felt her eyes fill with tears…

Harry had followed Alicia through the maze of corridors, through tricky doors and missing steps of the staircase and into the area near the wharf on the lake. He could feel that the light-hearted run was a good warm-up for what was surely to be the longest two hours of his life. His blood was already filled with adrenaline and he could feel the tip of his tongue feel bitter as that happened. Part of it was because of the run the other was the excitement that he felt when he was around her. Harry had almost caught up to Alicia, when she stopped. A bit of seeker reflex allowed him to avoid a direct collision with her.

" You're not huffing." Said Alicia as though Harry had done something really good. " It's a good sign that you're pretty healthy… well, let get going. I need to get rid of this energy, before it builds up too much."

" Okay… so we stretch?" asked Harry.

" We had the warm-up already. But we're going to start slow. The first lap around the lake would be jogging, the rest is full speed running."

As they jogged, Harry and Alicia talked about the school events and some things that happened to them over the holidays.

" What did you do in the holidays?" asked Harry.

" Nothing much really. There's just too much 7th year stuff at the beginning of the year to enjoy the summer."

" What kind of stuff?"

" Well, there's not much difference in the classes in 6th and 7th year. In fact all the classes and subject matters are all the same. There's no exams in 6th year after the mid year one…"

" No end of year exams?" Harry said excitedly. _Have to tell Ron this… hopefully Hermione won't be too disappointed,_ he thought_._

" Don't get excited. There's a reason for that seemingly no exam. We have to sit an exam two months into this year, our 7th year. I had to study all through the summer, so basically, I locked myself in my room and only came out for other reasons."

" That might not have had been fun… unless you liked studying."

" You're right. It was no fun at all. I hated every minute of it, but I do have to admit, all my work paid off. I'm confident that I will pass with good mark, maybe even a scholarship right into the ministry, but that's still far away." Then she gave Harry a sideways glance. " What about you? You certainly had an exciting summer. Tackling magical beast, taking on a creature that needs a lot of well-trained wizards to subdue it. And if the rumours are true, you did something no one else in the history of known magic has done. You apparated with another creature."

Harry looked uncomfortable at the things that she was saying to him. " Did you know – well that's a silly question. You shouldn't know this, but apparition works on the bubble universe principle."

" Huh?" was his reply.

" Basically when you apparate, you create a universe within the one you are in, and it allows you to jump anywhere in the universe. There are a few restrictions on this. First of all, only one life force can exist inside it and where you apparate to, it has to be a place you remember." _It makes sense, _Harry thought. " What you did defied sense since, one of you should be dead – not that I want you dead, it's just what's supposed to happen – And just to add to the mystery… it's amazing that you were able to create a bubble universe so large to accommodate yourself and the beast. It takes a lot of practice to apparate just with all of your clothes on. A bubble, that big, would take enormous amounts of power to create and to maintain."

" Well, I did do it, but I think it was pure instinct– " started Harry.

" I know that. It was Hermione wasn't it? I read it in the paper. You risked a lot for her."

" I risked nothing." Harry looked embarrassed. " She saved my life more times than that. I would give up my life for her." 

Alicia's face saddened a bit at Harry's words, but that kind of very low changes in expressions were not detectable to Harry. " I know, I must sound like a broken record for asking this, but, is there something between you two?" Harry stopped right in the middle of his jogging and tripped on his own foot. Alicia, despite herself, started to giggle. " I'm guessing no from your reaction."

" Yes!… I mean there's nothing between us. Romantic anyway." Harry started to elaborate. " She's kind of like a big sister. You know… looks out for me, tell me off for doing stupid things, and stop me from making stupid mistakes. We're just very good friends."

" Really?" Alicia said suddenly, uncharacteristically smiling – to Harry without reason. " Good…" the word escaped her mouth. Harry did not have the time to reflect on the mile and the on the word 'Good' that she had when Alicia asked that they start their running – sighting the build up of excess energy in her as the reason.

As they started to run properly, Harry realised why no one bothered to run with her. Simply put, even though he was pushing his body to its limit, Alicia was not going as fast as she could. Harry collapsed on the Quidditch field after the first lap of the Quidditch field was done. Harry was proud of himself for his minor achievement of five laps of the lake and one for the Quidditch field, though Alicia went ahead and did all three laps that she had intended to do. At the end of third lap, she collapsed next to Harry –still breathing heavily, without any warm downs. She lied flat on her back and Harry saw that she was breathing heavily and face flushed from exhaustion. She turned her face towards Harry and said, " You were better than I thought."

" Tha.. thanks" said Harry, breathlessly. Though, he had finished two laps before Alicia was done, his heart was still beating faster than it should have been – not all of it was because of the run.

" No problem." She replied with a sweet smile on her lips. Harry was absolutely entranced by her smile. " You think, you can help me up?" she said, slowly getting up to a sitting position.

" S..sure." With shaky hands and a slight slurring of his speech, Harry helped her up from the ground.

The closeness they shared, made them both blush slightly. Alicia wondered what it would be like to kiss him – an unexpected thought in many ways to herself – but decided against that tactic, until she was sure that she wanted to be with Harry. So far, she did, but he had to ask her. She had given him plenty of hints, and all he had to do was to just act on them – ask her for a date. Of course she wanted to become friends with Harry, like he was with Hermione, but the talk with Harry had convinced her that, Hermione's level of friendship with Harry before getting involved (if she did want to get involved with Harry) was next to impossible. They had too much history together for her to be the same type of friends, but she would do her best to come close to what Hermione and he shares before she wanted to get involved with Harry.

As they staggered into the castle, Alicia leaned on Harry for support. At the door to the Gryffindor common room, Alicia said, " Thanks for the company."

" It was no trouble. I was going to do it anyway." said Harry trying to hide a smile.

" In any case, thanks for the company. I've not had fun running, after Oliver left." She said looking fondly back on the memory. " He was the only one that ever kept up with me – well, actually he was better."

" Sorry, I'm so useless at it."

" No. no. no." she said in a hurry, " Don't think that. I'm glad someone was willing to run as much as that."

" It's not a problem." Harry said blushing slightly, before his voice too ok a hopeful tone, " Like I said, I was going to do it as well – granted not as much, but it's only twice as much, so It's quite okay with me. Same time tomorrow?"

" You sure? Two years ago, George tried, he gave up after the second day."

" Very." Harry did not think he could have been more earnest if he had tried. " I wouldn't rather do anything else." Even Harry was surprised at how bold he was being.

" Thanks." Alicia blushed very slightly at Harry's comment. " Yes. I'll be waiting. " She said as she shook his hand – a rather awkward gesture, especially after what was obviously flirting on both sides - but neither were sure as to how and what to do that was appropriate for the situation.

Alicia made her way to girls' dorms as Harry headed for his own, but before he could go back to his own, a pair of hands shot out of the dark corner of the room and dragged him back into the darkness. Harry was still very weak from the two hour run with Alicia, so he could not have had resisted – if he had bothered to try that is.

It was Hermione. The light filtering through a window nearby lit up Hermione's face slightly, but well enough for Harry to recognise her easily. " So how was the 'run'?" she asked, making quote marks in the air. " Oops, maybe I should call them, ' Getting to know Alicia sessions'…" she joked, with a hint of teasing tone in her voice.

" What?"

" Don't you play dumb with me. " she said imitating Mrs. Weasley's voice – uncannily similar in tone, to what she had used when she realised the twins had busted out Harry. " I saw you flirt with her in the morning" she let the implication settle into his brain." Harry blushed. " You like her don't you? – well I know you like her, but more than a friend right."

" err…" Harry started to get a bit uncomfortable. Harry knew that Hermione had confronted him with the same question once before, and he had only managed to avoid it because Alicia had shown up.

" So? Did you ask her for a date?" she asked, hoping he had.

" No!" said Harry practically shouting. From her startled reaction, Harry guessed that he had shouted a bit loud, " Sorry about the shouting – I will ask her… but not just yet. I'm not even sure that she likes me that way. " it was true. Though it might have had seemed like Alicia was flirting with him at the door, he still could not be hundred percent sure that she was not being just polite. He cursed himself for not knowing or understanding behaviour of women " – she's two years older than me after all, so when I think of it, it's highly unlikely that she's even interested…"

" She's not!" said Hermione, trying to find a way to tell Harry about Alicia's feeling – without actually telling him. " Well, in reality she's not – you're almost a year older – and she is one of the youngest in her level."

Her voice was clearly giving encouragement to Harry, though he was rather reluctant to get his hopes up. " But she's still the head girl. You think she would lower herself by dating 5th year?"

Hermione pursed her lips like he had something really stupid. " Half the girls in the school has a crush on you after Morocco – partly because of the heroics, but mostly because…" Hermione started to blush, " well, your body is more developed now. You're like on of those male models on muggle women's magazine." Harry raised an eyebrow at that comment. He was sure that during the holidays, Hermione had commented how stupid those magazines are, and now, Hermione was telling him, he looked like a person in those advertises."…just a bit less buff. Not only that but you're famous. Believe me when I say, No one is looking at your age. I know a lot of older girls that have a thing for you…" Ok just one very surely, but there have plenty of other girls with interest.... Something dawned on Hermione, maybe because he thinks Alicia is more than a crush… that's why he's so afraid. " Remember the time I had to break up the fight between that 7th year Ravenclaw and a 6th year Hufflepuff? They didn't have a problem with your age" Hermione's voice then went a bit teasing again, " Maybe you should be more worried about what the other girls would do to you, if you get involved with her."

Harry took no notice of her teasing. " Hermione," his voice was soft, " you just described all the wrong reasons, why I should get involve with Alicia. I like her, but if she's only attracted to me for my fame and my recent – unwelcomed, apparent good looks – then I should not be going after her. I like I told you on Saturday morning, I know, Cho Chang was my first crush and I liked her based on pure looks – even though she's more than that. Look how that turned out." He looked depressed to Hermione. " Then there's Ginny. She has had a thing for me since the very first year she came to Hogwarts – maybe even before. As much as I don't want to break her heart, I don't like her like that way. I don't want to go after Alicia because she's pretty. Doing that has just caused me problems. Alicia is friendly, kind and smart. She's been a good friend in all the years that I've been here. Granted, we didn't really talk much before that – unless you count the times that we played Quidditch together – but I've found out lots about her this years. In only one week too – and I think I like her. More than, I've ever liked Cho. This is more. T hat's why I want to go out with her, see if we have a chance – or is it all my teenaged hormones."

" Wow! That was a very eloquent reply." Hermione looked at Harry like she was seeing something she had not seen before, "… for your sake, I hope if Alicia likes you back and she better have same motives." Her hand's grazed his cheeks. " You deserve someone like that." She said, remembering the events of Morocco, his parent's death and the TriWizard tournament.

" Err… thanks" said Harry, starting to blush. " Can I go now? I'm pretty sure it's almost time for the breakfast and I still haven't had my shower."

Hermione looked at her hand and noticed that they were wet with Harry's sweat, where she had touched his skin to drag him back. " Looks like I need one too now." She said glaring at him.

" Hey! It's not my fault…" Harry started, but then there was a loud bang that made him stop right in the middle of his sentence. Then he moved across to in front of her and with an action faster than she had expected Harry took out his wand. He positioned himself in front of Hermione and the direction that he thought the sound had come from, to block any possible danger. 

The instinctiveness of his reaction, reminded Hermione of the war that Harry had lived through. She realised that the war had somehow made him associate loud noises with danger. She could hardly blame him – normal people react by looking at the source of the sound – he had been in a war – how much blood he had seen for real was unknown to her, but she wished it was not as bad as she hoped.

" Coming through…" yelled Ron, who was apparently the one that was responsible for the loud noise. Harry relaxed a little as Ron moved towards them really fast – _too bad the school does not have running team, he could have had made it in there_, thought Harry.

As Ron sped quickly by the pair ("Morning… Morning") without giving a chance for either of them to ask, why he was in such a hurry, Harry was left speechless. In less than a second, Ron was no where to be seen. 

" You know what that was about?" asked Harry as he turned.

It was then, for the first time Harry noticed what Hermione was wearing. She had on a nightie – it looked just like the dress she had worn on the day she had gone and picked up Harry from his uncle's house – the light orange dress with floral prints of lighter and darker shades. Unlike the dress however, this nightie clung to her body more closely. A slow blush crept onto his face, as his mouth hung open – this was a sight that he had not expected to see. He did wonder why she was standing there in her nightie and in broad daylight no less – on that topic why weren't people about in the room – that is not to say that he was not glad, they weren't.

Harry's suddenly flushed face, made Hermione realise that she had actually moved out of her blanket when she dragged Harry to the darkened corner of the room – So now she stood in front of Harry with only a few inches and barely one layer of clothing between them. 

Hermione face turned scarlet with the realisation and she clutched the front of her nightie, before she backed down onto the couch, to wrap herself up in the blanket.

An awkwardness settled in between them, and Harry was the first one to break it. " Erm… sorry… didn't meant to stare…" though he kept his eyes firmly rooted to the same place on the carpet of the common room as Hermione. 

" It's okay…" stuttered out Hermione, " I kind of lost my head a bit. Everyone is in the great hall, and I kind of lost my head a bit."

" No… It was my fault…"

" No, it was mine…"

" No. Really it was my fault" said Harry in his most earnest voice.

" Actually it is my fault…" said Hermione, just before she dissolved into laughter, confusing Harry. She became more composed, though her laughter was still going on strong until, Harry asked her why she was laughing. " It's just that… we're acting like we've seen each other naked." It was a comment that made Harry's face turn redder than it was before. " Harry," she was far more composed now and it almost seemed like, some one had flicked a switch to make her go into her logical/analytical mode. " I've seen you in far less clothes than, what you've just seen me in – and this nightie, covers me fully." Even though Hermione had said it, she did not feel comfortable enough to step out of the blanket. To prove her point, Hermione then set about listing the times: " The train station, the feast, the cover on that book, times I made you do garden work at my house – you were in just your small shorts. Then, there was that particular time when, I walked into your room while you were in your boxers getting changed…" Harry was blushing more and more with each one and even Harry could remember a few more – even though those occurrences happened almost a year ago for him. Finally, not wanting the whole list to be read out – even though no one was there and they both knew of those occurrences, Harry interjected, hoping to get off the topic, " Do you know _why_ Ron was in such a hurry?"

Hermione smiled at him, her face still flushed pink from the memory of Harry being in his boxers. " Yeah… I think it's about the Quidditch commentator post. He came down for a few minutes, a while ago and saw the poster on the wall…" Harry followed Hermione's hand found the big light blue poster. It read : _Quidditch commentator trials for all 5th years is today after breakfast in the great hall.12th September, 4th year and below and 13th September, 6th and 7th years. Same time. ~ Madam Hooch. _Then in smaller print it had two sentences. _Please note: Only fair and unbiased people need enter. No one other than the Quidditch Commentator hopeful may attend. _"… and took off back into his room. Oh! By the way, there's no other classes till after launch." said Hermione, sounding totally miserable at the idea.

" Good." Harry said, earning a disapproving glare from Hermione. " Err… I have to go… shower and things." said Harry in a hurry – thinking that would end the embarrassing situation that he had just been in.

" We have Transfiguration together after lunch, you think you can wait here for me – until I get my own shower? We can go to breakfast together after that and I desperately need help in Dueling, so I would not mind do you want to practice with me?"

Harry smiled brightly at that. He had not had any practice after the Dueling demonstration and it would have been the longest time that he had gone without a day of proper training. " Sure, but where? I don't want to be gawked at again."

" How about the Transfiguration Classroom. We know the password and only we can enter."

Harry nodded, but Hermione was not finished.

" Oh! " she crossed the rest of the distance, and still shrouded in the blanket, leaned in close before saying, " Thanks." She said as he kissed him on the cheek.

" Please don't do that." Said Harry as the little blood that had left his cheeks after the previous embarrassing talk, returned full force and with apparent reinforcements.

" Bet you wouldn't say that to Alicia" she said as she turned and left the room with an odd smirk on her face.

Harry could stare open mouthed at the retreating figure and wonder what made her tease him. It was totally out of character for Hermione to do anything like that. Harry did not have a chance to think about the conversation, when a cool breeze went through the common room, chilling his sweat-covered body – in the process reminding him that he needed a shower.

Alicia came down to the common room and saw Harry sitting on a couch reading a book. His hair, like always, in a mess but adorable none the less. It was wet and a few locks of it stuck to his forehead. Sitting alone on the blue couch with a book in his hands, Alicia thought he looked rather a striking figure. 

She pulled her white cotton shirt and the plaid skirt, in several places, to make sure that she was presentable and then walked up to where Harry was sitting. " What're you doing here?" she asked.

" Waiting for Hermione." said Harry, without looking up – then suddenly his head snapped up. He realised who he was talking to. When he did so, he found her looking down at him with a curious smile lingering on her lips. " Oh! Alicia… it's you."

" You're a bit jumpy today…" she asked, as Harry stood up as a matter of courtesy. 

" Sorry. It's just you totally sneaked up on me. I just was not expecting you, that's all."

" You two have plans?" she asked.

" Yes. Breakfast and then I'm supposed to help her train for the competition."

" She's entering?" Alicia pretended not to know, as the conversation between her and Hermione in the dead of the night, in the hospital wing was supposed to be a secret. " Hmm… That would be interesting, she would be a hard opponent to beat."

" Yes." Harry could not help but agree. Though Harry had not used all his skills in the dueling demonstration, he found several things about Hermione's brand of magic to be very powerful. Some of his minor but significant attacks on her had no effect and her ability to come up with the most ingenious of ways to counterattack was a very big challenge for him. It made him think, given time she would catch up to him – something about that fact made him nervous. He did not really mind being beaten by Hermione, or another girl – but he still did not like it for some unknown reason. He had no problems being defeated by anyone, regardless gender or their age, but he just did not want Hermione to beat him without the very best effort from himself. 

The vigorous training that he would need to stay ahead of her always could come only from two people. Professor Pasha, being a teacher on the subject would be an excellent choice, but Harry could not risk questions that would surely be asked by him, had he used all his abilities. The second person was ironically, the person that Harry wanted to stay ahead of. She knew enough magic to keep Harry on his toes and her magic was distinctly different than other people, therefore, she was more of a challenge. Choosing had other benefits as well – because she already knew of Harry's secret, he could train with Harry with more of his skills and as Hermione gets better, he could just increase more of his skills to fight her. 

The problem was that he would also be helping her to grow strong – there by making it an effective stalemate – something, only Hermione would be able beat, since she was the better one of the two at researching and finding obscure spells. 

In any event, Harry was looking forward to his first match with Hermione. " She will be." Harry repeated, before he enthusiastically added, " Did you see her stunning spell go straight through Professor Pasha's shield."

Alicia nodded. " I just came into the room too. It was a very nice way to start a day too." She said laughing – remembering the way Malfoy flew right into the wall. She looked at the time and said, " I really have to get going now. Professor Snape and Madam Hooch organised a commentator post tryout. I have to be there to be one of the judges."

" I know. Hermione told me just before she went up to have her shower. That was well over twenty minutes ago."

" Well… it takes a while for a girl to have a shower." She said sympathetically. " We just don't get ourselves wet, you know. This long hair has its down sides, while her bushy hair, though now small, has the same problem. It takes a bit of time to wash all the gunk out of it… Er… Look at the time… I would love to chat, but as I said, I'm running late already as it is, so, I'll talk to you later.

" Okay." Said Harry as she left the common room is unusual hurry.

Two minutes after, when Harry had sat back down to the chair, Hermione came down the staircase – her shoes making a lot of noise as she did. He turned sideways and saw a blurry figure in the corner of his eyes at the girl's dorm room door. He quickly went to his feet and started to walk in the direction of Hermione. " Sorry it took so long." She said.

" It's okay… can we go, I'm rather hungry. All the running around made my need for the Not to mention that I was tempted to go to the elves several times because you took so long."

" Err… sorry. It won't happen again." She said looking apologetic. " I couldn't find my clothes."

At that Harry paid attention what she was wearing. A bright white cotton shirt and a pair of beige denim short. She had worn the exact same shirt that she had worn the day of the dueling demonstration. " Isn't that my shirt you're wearing?"

" So?"

" Nothing. It looks nice on you." Harry said.

To Harry's utter amazement, instead of feeling remorseful for stealing one his shirts, she looked rather pleased with herself. " It would."

" Why is that?" he asked indignantly.

" Because, you, Harry Potter bought you first and only muggle clothing for yourself and…" Hermione could barely stop herself from bursting out in laughter. " …it happened to be one made for girls! " Hermione started to laugh.

" What do you mean it's made for girls?"

Hermione composed herself and then turned around so that her back was to Harry. " Come closer…" she said. When Harry was close enough, she dipped her head and moved her hair from the back of her neck. " Now twist the collar of the shirt until you find the tag on it."

" Like this…" he as he followed what he thought she had said.

" Yes. Now, read the tag."

" Size XL. 75% Cotton, 25% polyester. Made in Japan. Fits women of bust… WHAT!!!" yelled a surprised Harry, almost into Hermione's ear.

" No need to make me deaf." She said holding on to the ear in the hopes of getting rid of the ringing noise. " It's made for women, Harry. You bought your first muggle clothing and you bought it at the women's department." Hermione started to laugh, unable to stop herself, when she noticed the totally horrified look on Harry's face. " I remember offering to help, but you would have any of it, remember Harry?"

" Err…. How was I supposed to know?"

Hermione stopped laughing. " You didn't see any of the signs?"

Harry shook his head.

" What about all the lingerie that was there? Surely , you must have had seen them in that part of the department store?"

Harry had never heard of that word, so he was not sure of what Hermione was getting at, " Lon – ger – what?" he said before running his hands through his tousled hair. Hermione started to laugh again as she was amazed once again by Harry's ignorance on the topic. " Ladies underwear, Harry. Ladies underwear. The elaborate ones are called lingerie." Hermione gave him another odd look and then burst in laughter again.

" Please stop laughing at me." He said in a pleading voice, almost afraid that the whole school would know of his ignorance in matter of minutes.

" Okay." Said Hermione as she clamped her hand on her mouth and tried to stifle the next batch of laughter that was coming. Harry was not impressed with her still making fun of him.

" Hermione, if you don't stop this now, I won't help you train for the tournament." That threat got Hermione's attention and the laughter died in her throat.

" Sorry."

" How am I supposed to know which is a girl's shit and which is not? For that matter, how could anyone tell that I'm wearing a girls shirt?" Harry asked, hoping the answers would let him choose his next set of clothing – clothing that is not a potential source of embarrassment.

Hermione faced Harry and said, " You see, the main difference is usually which side the buttons are. Most shirts, made for girls, have buttons on the right side. This practice dates back to medieval times, when their servants often dressed women – it was done to make it convenient. In houses with two or more young girls would stand in front of each other help the other to put on the shirt… or as we like to call it… blouse."

" Thanks. If I had worn it, I'm sure some sort of rumour would have had gone through the entire school."

" You're welcome. Well, next time you need to get some clothes, just ask Ron or me, to help you. Though I'm fairly certain, Ron would be just as useless at picking muggle clothes."

" Erm… thanks."

" You're welcome." Then Hermione behaved in a strange manner again. " I can't have you showing up in women's clothes on your dates with Alicia, now can I? What kind of a friend would I be then?" She said teasing Harry. It seemed Hermione had found another thing besides beating up Harry, really fun – teasing him. _Probably substitute until the day she can beat me up again_, Harry thought. Before Harry could protest at that comment, Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and said, " Let's go. I thought you were hungry."

By the time Harry and Hermione had arrived for their breakfast, the door had already been closed to the rest of the school. Student's waiting out side were trying to cast all sorts of charms that would let them see what was going on inside the room – without any apparent success.

" Let's go to the kitchen." Suggested Harry. " I want to see if Winky is back."

Hermione nodded before curiosity got the better of her and asked, " Why do you want to know if Winky is back? You've been asking that for a while now."

" Erm… you're not going to like this…" Harry said looking rather afraid of Hermione's reaction.

" What won't I like?" she said, hands on her hips, almost as if she knew that Harry was going to say something that was going to upset her immensely.

" I talked it over with Professor Dumbledore, and he agrees that this is the best thing for Winky."

" What is?"

" Err… Winky will have a new master and family to serve…"

" You did what!" Hermione crossed the distance between them grabbed onto his shirt and pushed him to the wall. " What right did you have to do that? You had no right!"

Harry knew for a long time that Hermione might react that way and had come up with a plan to counter her arguments. Hermione's hands were gripping the front of his shirt and she did not look like, she was about to let them go.

Harry brought up his hands and covered hers, before he applied pressure so that Hermione would let him go. " That hurt!" she said sputtering in anger as she tried to let go of the shirt. The efforts to extricate her hands so that she may tend to hurt palm, but Harry kept holding them – making it impossible for her to move her hands. " … Let go of my hands. Let them go, Harry."

" No." Harry's voice carried the iron resolve Harry had gotten – it came from almost ten month of thinking nothing more than how and when he would go back to the future. " Winky is hurt and she's going to hurt someone or herself, because she has no master right now –she's totally out of control. She can't be trusted without a master. She runs away from Hogwarts every few days – Dobby can't send others out to look for her everyday. If she had a master, she would be duty bound to serve them… She'll be happy and the master of the house would be happy."

Harry paused slightly to see if Hermione's face had the expression that he wanted. One that said she was willing to listen but only found her staring blankly at him as she tried to get her hands out of his grip. For some reason, the idea to knee him in the groin and then get out did not occur to her. Harry shook his head and continued, knowing that she was at least listening.

" Hermione, We've arranged Mrs. Weasley to be her new master." Harry saw her face light up in understanding. " You know how much work she does in a day – even with all the magic – it's a lot of work for her. This way she's happy and Winky is too. Because it's the Weasley's, you can trust in the fact that they won't make Winky hurt herself, just because she did not manage to do something perfectly." Harry let go of Hermione's hands. Harry kept speaking when Hermione did not move from her position, " Mrs. Weasley has also agreed to give her freedom when Winky is well enough. She's also paying Winky two sickles a month, not much – but that's all she can afford to give her – even with Percy's new job. It's all if she come to work for Mrs. Weasley."

Hermione leapt at him and enveloped him in a bone-crushing embrace. Jus as Harry thought, _How did he get such strong arms,_ before Hermione broke his chain of thought. " What about the holidays?"

Harry snorted out in laughter, realising, Hermione had just accepted the idea as a good one and it has her full approval. " Depends on Winky and if she goes to work for her." Hermione kept hugging him and it was getting uncomfortable for Harry to be hugged for that long. " Umm… Hermione?"

" What?" she asked softly in Harry's chest, it felt to Harry that she was trying to bury herself in there. 

__

Why do the houseelves matter so much to her, he thought, before asking, " Could you let me go now? It's becoming hard to breathe."

Hermione blushed and jumped back from Harry. " Sorry. Didn't mean to… I didn't think, anyone cared so much about the houseelves."

Harry came closer and put a hand on her shoulder. " You know I do. So does Ron." Hermione made a face at him. " You know he does…" he assured her. " You think everyone treats the houseelves as bad as the Malfoys. So you think my giving all of them their freedom, they would make them happy. But not all of the masters are terrible. Ron can see that the houseelves love to serve and he thinks that they should be allowed to live like they do now, because that way they are happy."

" Maybe." She said sounding unconvinced. " Or maybe he just wants one for himself so he wont's have to clean hi room. Anyway… Will you help me campaign for S.P.E.W. this year?" she asked looking hopefully at him.

" Erm… can I get back to you on that one?" Harry grinned sheepishly, not wanting to really say no or yes – but most importantly he was not sure which side he was in. In one hand he wanted the houseelves happy on the other, he wanted not to be mistreated.

Hermione punched him on the shoulder lightly. " Sure." Hermione stood shoulder to shoulder and wrapped her right arm around Harry's left and rested her head on his shoulder. " Let's go."

Though Harry was surprised by her move – in fact he had been very surprised after returning from Morocco, how much more Hermione seemed to hug him. Ron had gotten his fair share as well. Especially, just before going off to sleep, she would give him a hug. Harry's lasted for less time – which he attributed to her knowing how embarrassed he got getting hugged or kissed. _That's the reason she kissed me on the cheek and teased about Alicia – she's going to keep doing this to make me embarrassed. _As sure and as reasonable that sounded, this Hermione was different than the one that he had with him going to Morocco. _Probably because of the whole Nundu incident,_ he thought, _If she thinks that'll embarrass me, then she has another thing coming. _" Yes. Lets." Said Harry. 

It took them two minutes to reach the portrait to the kitchen. While Harry checked if anyone was in the corridor, Hermione tickled the pear on the fruit picture and the secret entrance was revealed… not only that, but there was two people in there already. Two neither Harry nor Hermione thought would see together there. Doing what they were doing…

" What're you doing here?" asked Harry to the Neville.

" She dragged me in here…" said Neville slightly startled.

" Don't talk. We're on a tight schedule." Said Pansy, before she got distracted by one of the elves. " Hey you!" she made a run for a small houseelf with bandage around it's head. "I told you to get me some Grape juice… not grape juiced. Go and get me the right one."

" Sorry Mam. I be going bashing my head in the oven door…"

" What?" she sounded very outraged. " Hey! Who told you to do that? I told you to get me the juice. That's what I want – so go get it for me."

Hermione looked oddly at Pansy for a second as she walked over to the large tray that was being set up with a large amount of food.

" You want to join S.P.E.W?" Hermione asked retrieving a small badge out of her pocket and holding it out. 

" Hell. No!" she said, looking disgusted at the thought.

" You like the houseelves though…" sputtered Hermione in confusion.

" Look Granger, I don't know what planet you are on now, but I don't like the houseelves. Okay? Now if you'll excuse me, miss perfect, I think I'll go take Neville here for his Transfiguration exercises – you Gryffindors are all useless."

" But you made sure that Houseelf didn't hurt himself. You ca…"

" You've gone off your rocker, Granger. I didn't do anything for the elf. I only looked out for my interests and it was in my interest that that elf did get me the food that I wanted. If that thing got any more hurt, then I would never have had the grape juice…"

" Okay. It's my mistake." Said Hermione, but she slipped the button in her cloak pocket nonetheless, totally not seen or even felt by anyone one in the room.

" You should be. One would think that with a brain as big as yours, you would know that I could not care less if the houseelf decided to kill it's self." She turned and found Neville talking to Harry. " Longbottom. Get your lazy bum here and take this tray."

Hermione would have had said something, but Neville did not seem to mind taking the tray, but did look apprehensive that he would have to leave Harry and Hermione to spend time with Pansy – alone.

Harry patted Neville on the back and moved out of the way, to let them through. 

" Where were they going?" asked Hermione, once the odd "couple" had left.

" Apparently Professor McGonagall told the pair, they were behind on their transfiguration work, and the have been given a joint project to make up for it. They only have the next three days."

" You mean as long as the Quidditch commentator thing is happening?"

Harry nodded, before seeing Dobby coming out from on of the small doors on the side of the room. " Hullo there." Said Harry in a cheery voice.

" Harry Potter come to see Dob……" started Dobby but stopped when he saw Hermione standing next to Harry. Though she looked different from before, since her haircut, he still recognised her, " oh! Harry Potter has his honey back? I be getting drinks – pumpkin juice?" he said running off deep into the kitchen, with out waiting for an answer.

Harry felt a poke on his shoulder. " Honey? What did he mean by honey?"

Harry could feel his cheeks start to burn, " It's kind of embarrassing, but Dobby think that…" Harry stopped, unable to get himself to say the words.

" What? Harry… what?"

~~~

END OF CHAPTER  
**READ AND REVIEW**

A/N: Few! That was the largest chapter I've written. *pats himself on the back* I hope you liked it as much as I have. 

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	42. CH 42: Not Yet!

**Very Important things**

**Name Change:** I am considering changing my nick from NAPPA to Imran (My real name), so if you find the story by typing my name, then you might want to bookmark it. :)

**Please note: **I'm uploading the chapter sooner that I wanted to. I promise work faster. It's been hell writing this chapter, and I did not get to where I wanted to. The next chapter is in 48 hours. I *will*try to meet the deadline. From now on, I will post what I have on deadlines.... *sigh* I can only ask for forgiveness.

**Lateness:** There are several reason the chapter is almost a month late. Real life intervened. I have had to finish off several assignments, so I was rather busy. I have family commitments and commitments to the family business. I also have commitment to my girl friend, for whom, I had to go and meet her parents (scariest thing I've ever done). The major reason the chapter is late however is because, I did it on purpose. I have had no experience in writing romance or angst or drama or kissing or sex. There will lots of all those from now on. The fic will become R. For heavy kissing and hints at more. There will be more blood and more graphic scenes.

**New Fics: **The reason I wrote the new fics while I was not working on Septanic Dueling is because, I had to get some practise in those scenes.

**Neville/Pansy: **Some people are beginning to think Pansy is in love with Neville. (After how she stayed the night with him in the hospital wing) She is not! Slytherins are power hungry. They only respect power. Pansy is one of them. The only reason she is even interested in him is because of his lion animagus. Something that proves that he has lot of power inside him. He just needs to release it. (That's the track I will be taking.) Why am I saying this? Because otherwise her behaviour might seem to you a 180 degree turn from previous chapters and I have no intention of responding to that barrage of emails – though other things are loved.

**I would like to say a special thanks to these people for really pestering me to get the next chapter out.**

Constantine1453

MythX (_one of his fics is in the fav list_)

Armand (_Read his NC-17 fics. Some are perverse, but others are just downright funny – Not for the faint hearted_)

Brian Yoon (_co-author of Memories, which should be up soon_)

CJAnderson (_Veritaserum on ff.net – Read his fic HP and the Turbulence within_)

HockeyHunk (_probably the person that asked for a new chapter every day!_)

Phobiac

Charles08

**A Special mention: **Yumi or Fuyumi in ff.net(_I love her work. She inspires me to write better... if after reading any of my chapters, you feel the need for fluff, then go to my fav author's list. She's there. Read her fics and tell me that Harry/Hermione are not meant to be together. I even love her angsty ones, and people know I hate that genre._ **Review her work**)

There's more, sorry, if I did not mention you.

~Nappa

**Chapter Number:** 42  
**Chapter Name:** None yet!

Hermione felt that Harry was hiding something and for the life of her, she could not work out what. It was driving her insane. She was normally very patient – more so than the average witch. But even she had her limits. She knew Harry well, and she knew how to get information out of him. After all that time spent in the school, all those adventures you can't help but find out little quirks about the other persons your are close to. 

She knew Ron to be an open book. Ron always spoke his mind. He did not hide things from others. Thought those are the qualities that Hermione liked, they were also qualities that she despised. She often wished Ron would know when to speak and when not to.

Harry was different. He preferred to think and keep his feeling inside bottled up. He knew when to speak and when to keep quite. Sometimes she felt, Harry knew the old adage about letting people guess what you are thinking rather than saying something to confirm that you're an idiot. Hermione knew well how to get information out of Harry.

" So, are you going to tell me?"

Harry looked as if he was wishing the ground to open up and kindly take him in there or perhaps face a Dementor rather than answer the question. Normally, that face would have had made Hermione ask him not to answer, but this was different. It was something that related to her as well.

To speed up the process, Hermione decided to take a few steps in the direction that Dobby had left. She had not taken two full steps, when Harry grabbed her arm – a bit more tightly she had envision him doing so, but it was something that she had predicted. 

" No, Wait!" said Harry, coming to the realisation, if the information did not come from his mouth, then she might misunderstand his reasons for not saying. He, after all, was reluctant to tell her. 

Hermione turned, as a slight smile graced her lips. " So? What is it that Dobby meant, that you could not bring yourself to say it?" she blinked twice rapidly, the way she did when she was very curious.

" Erm…," Harry started, " Dobby seems to have the idea that you're my girlfriend." 

Hermione looked, almost as horrified as the time, she had contemplated what Alicia's threat could mean. A dance with a Malfoy – even the thought sent her shudder down her spine. 

Harry thought that her shudder was something that he said. Even when you are not interested in a girl, if they shudder at the thought of dating you, you tend to get a bruised ego. " What? Am I really that bad?"

Hermione became concerned. " No! No, Of course not! It's just that…" She started to laugh, making it even worse for Harry. She already knew that Harry thought of her as a friend and he had made it perfectly clear when he told her about his unwanted detour in the past.

Harry was confused. " I mean, you tensed up like, I was Malfoy!"

Hermione snapped her head up real quick. It seemed to her may be Harry was developing some kind of mind reading power. A terrifying thought, but one that had a big possibility of being true. Harry's list of powers from day one had just gotten bigger and there seems to be no end in sight. Ability to talk to Dragons – albeit they had to start it, the multiple Animagi, magical Animagi, parseltongue, AstralProjection, ability to do magic that's years beyond Hogwarts (healing spell and the Patronus), accidental magic (too much of it) and the prowess with a staff. Hermione was not sure how good Harry was with it, but he had to be really good for the populous of the largest muggle born magic city to think of him as a legend.

" I'm sorry. I'm just thinking about Malfoy and Rita Skeetar and the mess they made my life last...err.. your and my 4th year." It was not a lie as she did think that, after she thought about Harry's powers.

" Oh..."

" Well, what makes half the people in the school think I'm in love with you and what about the other half that thinks that I'm in love with Ron, I mean –"

Harry interrupted her, " Did you do a survey?"

She had an involuntary flash of what had happened before, when she went to take the Marauder's map & the invisibility cloak, from Harry's trunk and accidentally overheard the Dean and Seamus's conversation.

" Don't be silly, for your information, Parvati told me!"

It hurt her to lie like that, but she could not tell him about her visit to see him in the hospital wing to see him. It would be too embarrassing and the way that Harry was satisfied. Hermione, herself was a bit surprised how quickly her mind had found the perfect reason to know this information. It came to her as a relief, when Harry did not question her source. " As I was saying, so, what if before this year, I just had only two friends and both of them were male of the species? You're both my best friends, but I'm not in love with either of you – no more than I'm in love with Parvati –" as soon as she had said it, she felt an overwhelming urge to clarify herself.

It was because of what her mother said to her a while ago. Something along the lines of how dirty boys' minds can be, regardless of age, place or situation. " Don't you even dare think about making a comment on that! –" she said, bending forward slightly, waving her finger in front of Harry, while her another hand remained firmly on her hip – making her look like a younger version of Professor McGonagall.

A rather disturbing thought for Harry. " I didn't say anything." Harry Protested, but he grinned at her, making her face redden slightly and think that she had thought right and Harry had been indeed thinking along those lines.

Though the revelation, that some of the boys might have a crush on him, had come as a surprise, he was not ignorant of relationships of those kind. He had always thought that a person should be free to choose whom ever they want to spend their lives with. He did not care for that lifestyle, but he saw no reason why two people whose want to indulge in such a thing be prevented from doing so. He, like all other boys in his age group, would not have had turned down an opportunity to see two women together. He was not fond of the idea of male-male relationship, but he was not going to try and make everyone fit in with what he wanted. _That's Voldemort's job_, he thought. He sighed mentally, thinking of how everything he now thought, after the 4th year, always somehow ended up something about Voldemort. 

" You were going to."

" There's nothing wrong with that Hermione." Harry said softly, the tone resembling Ron's a lot, though it did not sound serious enough to her, to be like his.

" I knew it." She said slightly fuming over Harry's comment, " All boys are alike." She folded her hands on her chest. " Harry James Potter, I expected better from you."

Harry looked horrified that Hermione thought he was being serious, " Fullname... Hermione I was just joking. You didn't really think I thought THAT did you?" He emphasised the word 'that' " I was just teasing you for teasing me about Alicia."

Hermione looked flustered that she did not recognise the tone being a teasing one. " I knew that!" she said it, but even she had a hard time believing herself.

To her relief, Harry did not go back on that topic again. Hermione switched the topic back to people and why they assume things, when Dobby burst back in to the room – carrying two rather long glasses of light orange coloured drinks – both with a thin slice of lemon on the rim. " Thank you, Dobby." Hermione said, kneeling down slightly to pat him, as she took one of the glasses. 

Dobby then said something that made Hermione spit out her drink and Harry almost laugh the bit in his mouth, out through his nose. " Dobby happy, Harry Potter has his honey back."

_What a waste of perfectly good pumpkin juice, _thought Harry, when he recollected himself and sipped his drink. _Would be wonderful to see how she tells off an elf, for one thing, she's not going to be as aggressive as she is with people. _

The thought brought a mischievous smile to his face. He moved back a bit so that he could fit in the entire scene, that would unfold before him, in the scope of his vision.

As he had thought, Hermione was nice to explain why they were just friends to Dobby. On the receiving end of the lecture, Dobby looked scandalised when Hermione had said that Harry, actually liked someone else and she already had a honey (meaning Krum). 

Several times as Hermione had to repeat things to Dobby and each time Harry barely stopped himself from bursting out laughing. He could see her patience running thin and her voice rising ever so slightly each passing second. Everytime she said it, Dobby asked her if she was sure. Finally, Harry decided to put an end to her misery, knowing that she would go into her old age there before giving up.

Harry stepped into the conversation " Dobby," he called.

Dobby stopped listening to Hermione and looked around to see where Harry was. Locating him, he quickly ran over to him. A relieved Hermione looked up and saw Harry smiling at her. She returned it with a mouthed thank you.

" Harry Potter, need help?" said Dobby, brimming with pride.

" Yes. I…" he clarified himself when he saw Hermione in his peripheral vision, " I mean, Me and Hermione were wondering, if Winky is back?"

Dobby retrieved a notepad and looked through it and started to murmur in weird rasping and gurgling sounds.

_Elves had their own language?, _though Harry wondrously, but it was a short lived thought, because Dobby started speaking.

" No." He said, " But, Nitwick and Bunbun (Harry assumed that they were the two house elves that Dobby had sent for Winky.) has her. They be back day tomorrow-tomorrow."

Tomorrow-tomorrow meant that the day after tomorrow, and Harry understood that. 

Dobby looked up from his notebook and said, " Me tell Harry Potter and his honey.." Hermione flinch slightly in the background, " ...when Winky back?"

" Yes, and Professor Dumbledore too." Hermione answered as she took the place next to Harry, instead of standing behind Dobby, as she had before.

" Just give us the news of her arrival and take her to Professor Dumbledore, Okay."

Dobby looked very happy to get a mission from the great Harry Potter. " Dobby do his best." Dobby then looked back and forth between Harry and Hermione, and then asked a question to Hermione. " You sure, you not Harry Potter's Honey?, Harry Potter's Honey."

Before Hermione could launch into another attempt at making Dobby understand, Harry jumped in. " Do you think that you can give us some food, Dobby? We are terribly hungry, since neither of us had any breakfast. Something for lunch time too–" Harry looked at Hermione for confirmation, when she nodded, he continued, " And some drinks, too. If possible, some of this wonderful juice." He finished off shaking the glass of pumpkin juice in his hand, making ice inside rattle.

Dobby nodded, before he rushed off to a other elves and gave them some orders and then he himself went to do something. They had not separated for a few seconds, when they all came rushing back carrying packets off food that looked bigger and heavier than their own bodies. Dobby filled up two trays and personally gave each of them Harry and Hermione. 

They both said a thank you to Dobby, before each picking up a tray of food. " Dobby here for Harry Potter and..." Dobby looked very uncertain as he said it, " his honey?" It seemed to Harry that Hermione's message was slowly getting into him. Dobby went back to work – but not before he spit cleaned his head elf badge.

" Thanks for the rescue." Said Hermione as they each barely squeezed through the door.

" No problem, just doing my Knight in shining armour thing – rescuing damsels in distress is part of the contract."

"Ohh... and there I thought I was special..." she giggled getting into the spirit of the conversation. 

At the door, Harry forgot to say the password and when the door did not open, he turned his back to the door and kicked it.

" What are you doing?" Hermione said looking through the top of her pile of food. 

" It's not opening."

" Honestly!" Hermione tut-tuted, " Did you say the password?"

Harry's ears turned pink because of his embarrassment and absentmindedness, behind his pile of food. He muttered the password and the brick-men got out of their way. Harry was not careful, when he entered the room and squished two of them under his feet. As soon as he felt the squishiness under his feet he stopped. When he saw what, or who he had stepped on, he turned to apologise. But three other brick men had another idea. Before Harry could react they charged at Harry's shin. 

" Merlin!" Harry yelped in pain, before dropping the tray. Hermione had put her tray down already so she managed to catch Harry's, before it dropped all the food. She saw the three brick-men make another attempt at hurting Harry's already hurt leg and quicker than she had ever done before, she whipped out her wand and fired a few curses at them. Nothing hit them, but they were sufficiently frightened to start scurrying away.

Hermione moved to Harry's writhing figure on the floor.

One would have had expected Harry to be powerful in mind to block out this simple pain. Had he not overcome pain worst than this during his training in Astral Projection? The answer was simple to Hermione. Magic hurt Harry less than physical things. She checked to see if the injuries were very severe or not. There was a large bump there, it was swollen and lightbluish-red. Hermione gently poked it, causing Harry to yell in pain. 

" Sorry." She said caressing the area besides the large bump. She looked at Harry's face, scrunched in pain, and asked, " Can't you use your self healing power?"

Harry gritted out, " I'm trying... but it's not helping."

_Must be the magic -interfering_, thought Hermione. _He can't even use the spell to heal himself,_ remembering Harry mentioning the fact that he was in life and death situation when that had happened.

" Let's get you to the hospital wing..." she said, slipping her arm under his neck.

" No!" Harry said, frightening Hermione enough to take her arm out from where it was. " If I go in there again, I'll never be able to leave."

" But Harry..." she protested.

" It's okay, it'll get better." He said smiling bravely. It was a bump, but there could have been more damage underneath easily. Hermione was not sure if she should listen to Harry or not. 

" I just have the worst luck with injuries. We can do the dueling some other time."

" I don't care about the training. It's you, I'm worried about." She looked really worried that something might be broken in there. " That injury could be dangerous and serious. You need to stop acting so brav..." but he cut her off.

" I'm not going." Harry was being defiant and Hermione was getting mad at him. She looked straight into his eyes, and for a second she could feel something there. She thought it was grim determination and defiance. Finally, realising he would not listen to her, she said, " In that case..." she pointed her wand at the bruise and whispered the incantation to the bandaging spell. " I'm not sure, if it'll do any good, but if it gets worse..." She looked pointedly at Harry and said, " I swear, I will drag you to the hospital wing, if I have to carry you there."

He smiled triumphantly at her, which she normally would have had said made him look boyishly charming, but right then, she thought it was making him look like a prat. Hermione took out a donut from the tray and stuffed it in his mouth. " Eat!"

~*~

**Across the castle... **

Despite all appearances to the contrary, the tray that Neville carried was very heavy. He cursed himself for not having enough courage to speak his mind to her. _What a joke_, he thought, _A Gryffindor, not having courage! I mean, why would the hat put me in here. It's a mistake, if I've seen one – and I've seen and caused many, _he thought feeling completely miserable at his own ineptness. 

" Hurry up, Longbottom." Screeched Pansy loudly as she held the door for him.

" I'm coming as fast as I can" he muttered to himself.

" What was that?"

" Er… I'm coming." Neville started to walk faster, but then he heard Pansy moving towards him. _She was supposed to hold the door, so why is she coming this way_, thought Neville._ I hope she does not hit me. _Something about Pansy made Neville fear for his life. His heart would race faster. It was almost as bad as he feared Draco. Neville was not afraid of girls, well girls at school anyway. His grandmother was another question altogether.

His feelings did not come for her because she looked mean. It was her that called him fat in his first year. He would admit that he was fat then, but now it was better. He was slightly chubby, but this he had not been able to get rid of. No matter how much he exercised during the holiday. Finally realising that his optimum physique was like this, he came to accept it. He did not give up getting slimmer, but he liked where he was. Besides, to him, passing the classes were of more importance. 

Aside from how Pansy was with him, he did not like it how she called Hermione a chipmunk in his fourth year. Hermione was the person he admired the most. The worked hard and got the benefit of it. Though he worked, he had never yielded as good a results, he was glad to do as well as he could. 

Neville looked up to see Pansy looking at him like he was not worth the space he was standing on." What is -?" he did not get to finish the sentence when he saw Pansy point her wand at him. 

The smile on her otherwise okay looking face, reminded him that she was indeed a Slytherin - someone that is very much likely to curse him to hell and back, just for the fun of it. His throat dried up like suddenly his tongue had been turned to sand and it drained away all the moisture there. He gulped a mouth full of air, hoping to get some much needed moisture form the air. Alas! There was no moisture there. Pansy made a few invisible circles in the air with he wand – each new circle made him more and more nervous. 

" Do you think I should make a few pimples appear on that face of your?" her grin becoming more sinister as his face paled more.

" Err…" Neville contemplated dropping the tray but then realised that from this distance it was impossible for him to hope that she would miss him.

Noticing the scared look on Neville's face, Pansy sighed. " You Gryffindors are just too easy to intimidate."

She knew it was not true, but could not pass up a chance to say something bad about the Gryffindors. Especially when Neville was not going to be protesting. She moved her wand to the tray and whispered a few words. A golden ribbon of light came out of the wand and wrapped it's self around the tray– very much like a bow on a birthday present. Neville was astounded to feel that the tray now only weighed less than half of what it was before. Instead of being happy for the relieved pressure, Neville was mad with Pansy, and in one of the few times in his life he spoke up for himself. 

" If you knew how to do this before, then why didn't you just do it? Instead of my having to lug this from the kitchen."

Pansy was shocked to see him Neville standing up for himself, but then it turned into a furious outrage. " Hey! You ungrateful piece of Gryffindor trash! For your information, that was in the 3rd grade spell book. If you could not think of the spell yourself, then it's not my responsibility to remind you. Why should I have to lessen your problems? It's not as if they are mine. You really have a big mouth, you know that, Longbottom?"

Neville looked at her in horror. What she had said was true. It's not like she was from one of the other houses. Houses, that helped each other, regardless of differences. Realising he had indeed made the mistake of thinking of her as a normal human being, rather than a Slytherin girl, who could very well have been destined to become one of the female henchmen of the Dark Lord. He bit back his hatred for the Slytherins and did the things that Gryffindors do. He apologised for his mistake, even if it had been to a Slytherin. 

" I'm sorry. I should not have had …" He started, but Pansy was not going to let him finish it.

" Keep your petty apologies to yourself!" she spit like it was venom that she was saying out. " I don't need your kind to tell me, I'm right. I KNOW, I'm right. Just get inside the room and be done with it! We'll be finished in two days. Maybe one more if you are as incompetent as every one knows you are. After that, if you even look at me, I swear by Lord Salazar, I will kill you."

Neville thought it was all right for her to be angry. He was angry with himself for blowing his cool like that. He was still mystified by why he felt that burst of courage when she had given him a thumbs up during the tryout._ Probably to make me nervous and fall of my broom. Who knew, girls could be so mean?_

~*~

Harry was going to ask Hermione about the language he heard Dobby speak, but before he could, she started talking. " You know, It was really odd the way Dobby kept insisting that I am your honey err... I mean your girlfriend."

Harry was a bit surprised that Hermione wanted to talk about that topic again. Harry was comfortable with the conversation, since he knew neither had any type of feelings like that. Plus, he sensed Ron was already in the picture and so was Krum. Though he may not have been too fond of him, he was a nice person. " Well, you can't really blame him." He said softly biting into the last part of the donut and staring on his pancakes. He poured generous amounts of syrup and started eating. " Everytime I've gone in there, he's seen me with you. I'm guessing – but I think because we don't have a morning quarrel every morning, like you and Ron have, he thinks we're more than friends."

Hermione cheek's were dusted with a light layer of blush at the mention of Ron and her fights, though Harry did not see her, because he was focusing on the food. " We don't do that every day!" she defended herself.

" Okay, every other day then." he teased.

" Maybe." She said, before a giggle escaped her at her own admission.

As Harry was eating, he would occasionally grumble about the brick-men that made up the door. He was upset about the training as he was very much looking forward to it. Partially for his own benefit, partially because he wanted to see how good Hermione really was. But most of all, because he loved to do it – he had grown to love it, because there was nothing else to enjoy when he was in the desert. 

He looked up to see what Hermione was doing and saw Hermione reading about him, or rather his alter ego – Harold Parker. Though Hermione was saddened by the new turn of events, it gave her the opportunity to catch up on her light reading on Harry's escapades in the past. 

It was still a mystery to Hermione why she could not bring herself to finish the book in a few minutes, as the book was fairly thin. She had finished books thicker and more wordy than this one in less time, but she could not bring herself to do the same.

_Just like her to bring a book to everywhere... well, maybe not the Quidditch games._

Before Hermione could get too much into it, he decided to ask her about the elf Language. _It would be fascinating to learn it_, thought Harry, would say Hermione.

" Do elves have their own language?"

Hermione looked up from her book, and looked kind of flushed. Harry thought it had something to do with him annoying her, when she was so into the chapter. " Harry Potter!" He could before she said it, almost imagine her face become red and get that expression that meant: "You-did-something-wrong-and-now-you're-going-to-get-it." – something that he had not seen on her face for a long time. He could almost see her dropping the book and start a lecture of him. 

Harry groaned. _Should have had just gone to the library!_

" Didn't you read the literature that I gave you on the elves, when you joined S.P.E.W?"

Harry opened his eyes and saw, sure enough, she had the aforementioned expression on her face. " Erm… no." he said, grinning sheepishly as he put in another slice of the pancake in his mouth. 

Her face faltered for a second from Harry's admission of guilt. " You two joined the group, but never did anything did you? Umf." Her voice carried the fact that she was miffed at his answer. He knew, she was well aware that he and Ron had joined S.P.E.W. so that they did not hurt her feelings – more truthfully to shut her up. So, no matter how much she pretended to be hurt, she really already knew of the facts.

" So, do they? or is it a trick to get me into the library? Because you don't have worry about that. I need to get some work done on my Blissy assignment."

She made a face at Harry for making another Library joke. Hermione would have been furious if it had been Ron, because Ron's tone usually managed to get one her nerves, simply because of the tone of his voice. " No! I'm not trying to do that... Wait, you still have not finished the assignment?"

" No, but, that's not what I asked. Tell me about the language of the elves."

Hermione snorted at Harry's ignorance. " Silly git, there is no such thing as an eleven language. They just talk in the language of the land they are native to."

Harry was confused. " But then what was that heard Dobby mutter?" 

" Probably something that he ate, that did not agree with him." Hermione said sagely, barely managing to keep herself from busting out in laughter.

Harry nodded his head.

" Do you need help in researching for 'Blissy'." She asked gently, almost hoping. " I'm going to help Ron on Saturday, so you can tag along if you want?"

" What happened to your not helping us do research?" Harry then imitated her voice. " You're supposed to do it by yourself."

A surprising facsimile to what Hermione really did usually sound like, made Hermione hope that her voice was not that annoying. It was actually more annoying that what Hermione's real voice sounded like, but she did not know that.

" I hope, I'm not that annoying."

" You're not. I'm just exaggerating." He said patting her on the shoulder.

" I'm just helping him learn how to find books in the Library" she said, " – same thing I did with you. It's not like, I'm telling him where to find books and helping him do the research or write the paper... I'm just teaching him how to do it himself. Honestly, one would have had thought that you two would have had picked up how to search by yourselves by now."

" Well, Ron would say, " Why learn it? – When you can just ask Hermione."

" I won't always be around you know..."

" What do you mean?"

" Well, think about it? There is going to be a war soon, people are going to die. There's no guarantee, that I won't be..."

Harry clapped his hand forcefully onto her mouth. " Don't you ever say that again. They are going to have to kill me and Ron before we let anything bad happen to you. That's a promise."

Inwardly, Harry was amazed how even the smallest of the fun discussions had a way of turning to Voldemort. It boiled his blood, but there was nothing he could do. Sure he was stronger now fighting in the Mage wars of Morocco, but he was no way powerful enough to take him on. It irked Harry immensely.

" But Harry, it's not realistic to think that way.." Hermione said it after Harry's hand loosened some what, when he thought of Voldemort.

" It is. We have to have hope. It's the only thing that'll get us through this. We're stronger together. Voldemort knows that. That's why he scares people. People drift apart when they are scared. That's why this time, there would be no drifting apart. That's why Professor Dumbledore is making all sorts of arrangements to unite the magical world. This time, we would win. I'm confident of that."

Words can be moving and inspiring, but Hermione was not used to thinking either of them applying to anything Harry ever said.

" Powerful words, Harry. I just hope you're right."

Harry hoped too.

~*~

"... and Ronald Weas– WHAT!" sputtered as Professor Snape read the last of the names. 

Severus Snape was a man that did not usually react that viciously to anything thing in front of the headmaster – but even he had his limits. His house had not won a single match against the Gryffindors and he had thought to get someone from the Slytherin to do the commentary, or one of the other houses, which had not a big a bias against his house as the Gryffindors were, would improve the odds. He quickly made over to Professor Dumbledore, " Professor, it's not fair – that brat is the friend of delinquent Potter. He'll be just as biased as the previous one. You can't let his name be in the final contenders."

Ron was ecstatic and he really did not wait for Snape. He was chosen and he knew Professor Dumbledore would not kick him out. Next to him stood Terry boot, another successful hopeful – together, they expressed their joy (jumping up and down holding each other and shouting in happiness) at being the final two from the 5th year level to be chosen as possible replacement for Lee.

" Calm down Severus." He said softly. " The decision was based on votes. The panel.." He waved his hand at the team captains and heads of the houses, " I'm afraid had their say. I can't do anything about it – I'm sure Ron Weasley will an excellent replacement. There are still three days of tryouts left and he may not be one of the finalist."

Snape relaxed at that thought. Then his face made a twisted sort of smile at Ron – he just remembered his backup plan.

~*~

Harry had been snoozing on Hermione's lap while she read the book. He had wanted to go some place more comfortable, but Hermione insisted on reading the book. Finally, Harry fell asleep on her shoulder. The moment she realised he had – well, it was hard not to when the person knocks their head against your shoulder.

She had moved a few inches along the wall, allowing gravity to make his decent onto her lap. When his head was in a comfortable position she began to read yet again. Once in a while putting her hands through his hair, like she had that time on the train when he had fallen asleep from exhaustion, beginning of the year.

Hermione had learned quite a few interesting things about Harry's journey is the past. A few things she made a quick point of reading over a few times to make sure that she would remember them, need the time come for her to tease Harry.

Harry stirred in his sleep, making her look down to see the expression on his face. It was not an unpleasant one – in fact, Hermione was sure there was a hint of a smile there.

Harry... Harry...

_A melodious voice came from the back. It was Soft. Laced in love and amusement. It sounded like Alicia. The room spun... no, he spun around. It was her smiling at her. She was wearing a very elegant robe of midnight blue. _

_" Do you want to dance..." He asked._

_An enigmatic smile played on her lips." Yes..."_

Harry... Harry... that voice came again, then the voice changed slightly to Hermione's. There was urgency in it.

Harry woke up, and groaned. It had been a good dream – well, it had the beginnings of one. Harry was not sure, if he should be happy that Hermione had woke him up. 

On one hand, he was awakened from his very first fantasy involving Alicia. Truthfully, it was the first fantasy he remembered involving a girl – he knew that he has had fantasies, but he knew neither the content nor the girl(s) involved. 

So, how would he know?- because, adolescent male fantasies leave "evidence" behind. 

So Hermione might have had saved him an embarrassment, but Harry's intentions with Alicia were all rather noble. He liked to think they were. There was a chance that he was just going to dance. A likely possibility since, he remembered Alicia – as he never remembered girls from his fantasies.

" What?"

" It's lunch time. " She said soothingly moving her hands though his hair. " Aren't you dying to find out how Ron did?"

Harry thought that it was odd that, Hermione – the girl that was not interested in Quidditch was interested so much, but then again, if it involved himself, he knew, she would be just as enthused. 

Harry nodded a yes, before sitting up.

" Don't." Hermione practically screamed, when he tried to get up by himself. She put Harry's arm around her neck and helped him to a standing position. Once in a comfortable standing position, Hermione asked him if he was able to put full weight on that foot. When not do so, Hermione agreed to help him out of the room.

~*~

Ron was sitting at the lunch table eagerly waiting the arrival of Harry and Hermione. After his return he had not been able to find Harry and Hermione. The tray of food sat in front of him – untouched.

He was getting worried. It was not like Harry and Hermione to be late. A wide range of possible scenario went through his head. Everything from mortal danger to even more unlikely snogging session between the two.

Ron had learned his lessons the year before, when he had accused of Harry lying. He knew it was his jealousy that motivated him. He also knew that this time he had no reason to think that Hermione was involved with Harry. Or any reason that Harry would lie to him about his relationship with Hermione.

It was Harry who had pushed him to somewhat admit his own feelings for Hermione. As Hermione would point out, logically it would make no sense for him to tell him to get his own act together, yet not take advantage of his indecision to make his move on Hermione.

Besides Ron was not blind to see that several girls, some quite more fetching then Hermione, had their eyes on Harry. He had decided to, circumvent his jealousy. He was not going to go down the beaten track... the path that had endangered his best friend's life once.

The noise level increased just a little to make Ron curious to the reason. He looked up to see Harry and Hermione hobble in, his leg bandaged.

Ron quickly moved out of his seat and moved toward the pair. When he reached them, he took duty to hold up Harry properly. 

Hermione let go of Harry and sighed happily that her back could rest." You're heavy – you know that?"

Harry grumbled about Hermione not being light either – Ron heard it, and stifled a laugh. Hermione too, as it seemed to have had, heard it but the only reaction from her was a light pinkness that dusted her cheeks.

" How was your tryout?" asked Harry, as Ron helped him sit down in one of the corner of the table.

" It was great..."

Then it started. For the next twenty minutes Harry listened intently about Ron's marvellous adventure.

In the morning the hopefuls had been transported from the school to the Hogsmede, by horseless carriages (all portkey travels from and to the school had been disable after the Triwizard tournament). From there they were taken by portkeys to the training grounds for the nations side. They had the wonderful opportunity to commentate on the practise and then, after it was all finished, they spent a few hours talking to the players. Getting tips for next years for their games. 

As Ron told his story, Hermione's head drooped almost into her food from boredom. But that changed when Ron took out a piece of parchemnt with the names and Autographs of all the players from the National Side. The murmurs of appreciation is what woke Hermione up from her dazed day dreams.

" Wow!"

~*~

**Quiz for the readers: **What do you think is Snape's backup plan, with regards to the commentator's position? If you can guess it right, I will give you a cameo in the next chapter. Email me the answer: imran_webjump@hotmail.com . Remember to include a name to be used. Something "sensible", as Hermione would say. I know there is not much clue, but a hint is, no one has done this before. 


	43. CH 43: What is MonDock?

**If you like it, please, review.** There is a long feedback at the bottom, so it looks long. It's well over 13000 word, I hope you enjoy it. 

**------------------------------------------------------------  
Chapter Number:** 43  
**Chapter Name:** What is MonDock? (_beta by Constantine1453_)  
**------------------------------------------------------------**

Hermione for the life of her could not understand why all the boys and most of the girls were so interested in Quidditch. So it was exciting, what did it matter in the grand scheme of things? Not only that, but it was a dangerous game. In her opinion, exploding snaps was a much better game. It taught hand eye co-ordination, just like Quidditch and it had the added benefit of teaching the person patience and balance.  
  
She still shivered, every time she saw Harry take a dive on his broom. Hermione would hold her hands to her face so hard in fear that it would leave a pink mark. It frightened her to no end, to see Harry risk his life like that. Every flip in the air would stop her heart.  
  
_What if he fell? What if that bludger hit him? _She thought, wincing at the idea._ What if there was rib injury where Malfoy hit him? Is he going to have internal bleeding? If I curse Malfoy, will I be expelled?..._ Those were just some of the logical thoughts that went through her head every time Harry was in the air. There were a few irrational ones as well, but she really did not know where they came from.  
  
Hermione was more than happy when Ron did not make it into the team. She would hate to think, how she would feel if the person that she felt something more than friendship was in the air. Who would she be more afraid for? Harry or Ron ?. Both were her best friends. Though, she had a crush on Ron, Harry was the one that was the target for opposite teams. It would have had killed her to watch a game with both her boys getting hurt. Parvati was her new friend, and she was getting attached to having a girl to talk to things with - well the idea intrigued her, but she really had not had opportunity to have a heart to heart with Parvati yet. Though Parvati was a lot deeper as a person than she had thought.  
  
Parvati did seem to like Harry an awful lot, and she would not have had been a bit surprised, if Harry was not the reason that she tried her best in the tryouts - even though she wanted to throw it. The keeper was in less danger than any other player in the field because of the sand below and fact that most of the time bludgers were thrown at the direction of the other players made her worry less about Parvati - but it still worried her.  
  
" Wow." said Parvati next to her. " Did you get El'vira?"  
  
" Yep" But before Ron could retell the story of how he got the autograph of the most brilliant female keeper in the history of the game not to mention the most reclusive one, he was interrupted - much to his dismay.  
  
" 2 Galleons," she said.  
  
" Huh? 2 Galleons...what?" said Ron, confused.  
  
" I'll pay you that for the parchment," there was a gasp from the people around Ron.  
  
" No!" Ron refused. His hands held onto it possessively. " Get off it. This is priceless. I'm not letting anyone buy it from me for anything and certainly not for measly 2 Galleons."  
  
" 10 Galleons then," another round of gasp ensued.  
  
" No!" Ron looked insulted that Parvati would think that much money would get her the parchment. Surely she did not think that money could buy everything.  
  
" 30 Galleons then."  
  
This time people did not gasp. Instead, they held their breath, and made sure that they did not blink, because they might miss something.  
  
Ron was stumped. It was so very tempting to want all that money, but on the other hand, it was something that was almost priceless. It would give him notoriety and small burst of fame.  
  
Draco Malfoy had ignored the people gathering around the Gryffindor table for bit, but after a while, when his own house mates started to circle the table to look in on the reason, he could not hold his own curiosity any longer. He pushed through to the table - or rather got Crabbe and Goyle to do it for him. What greeted him was an unholy sight.  
  
Well, it was an unholy sight in his eyes, when a Weasley was the centre of attention. As much as he could not bare the fact Harry Potter being the centre of attention - he could see why the weak showered him attention. He had indeed saved them from disaster twice... three times, if you count the very first one - the one that he does not tell other how he did it - Draco would have none the 'I don't know excuse'. He was sure that Harry Potter knew of how he brought about the original demise of the Dark Lord. He did not tell it to others, because he wanted to have it in the arsenal when he was face to face again.   
  
He could see the mudblood Granger being praised by teachers for her ability to do all magic before anyone in the grade. Somehow, he could bare those two getting the attention. It seemed to him that his hatred for Weasley was much stronger than that for the other two.  
  
_Why could he not just have had kept his mouth shut in the 1st year?! I would have had convinced the great Harry Potter to join Slytherin, and start a new era for the Malfoy family. One of riches made, lives ruined - but not extinguished.  
  
_As heartless and cruel as his father was, he had never passed on the liking for extinguishing life to his son. But Draco liked to see people suffer. He loved the feeling he got the time he had seen Potter fall from the sky and hit the ground. Each time he had made fun of Ginny Weasley - and see her running off crying. Each time he had threatened Neville Longbottom and made him shake in his shoes.  
  
_But no, he had to go and laugh at my name. Pea-brained Potter had to be stupid enough to defend him and that half-giant, full-imbecile of a hybrid. The stupidity of the non-Slytherin houses just keep amazing me.  
  
_Apparently the product of poor breeding had something that the first heiress to the Patil family fortune, Parvati wanted. He assumed that it was her, after all she was sitting next to Potter's mudblood girlfriend. Draco followed the conversation closely for a few seconds, when out of sheer amazement of the scene before him, he had blurted out, " Take the money, Weasley. Maybe you can get something good for Potter's mudblood girlfriend."  
  
Ron's head snapped at Draco's direction. His face was red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment - he knew Draco was talking about Hermione, and his ears turned pink. Teeth gritted and fist clinched, he tried to stand up. He was, however forced back down into the seat by Dean and Seamus. Fred and George were held back by a few tall boys, that Harry recognised being from Ravenclaw. Then Draco added "...you know the one that you have a crush on!"  
  
Someone stood up right in front of Draco, blocking his way. This annoyed Draco. _Damn it! I can't see his face. Move!  
  
_If Malfoy had been paying attention to where Harry was, instead of the bidding, which had reached 42 galleons when he commented - he might have had noticed who he was standing in behind of.  
  
It was Harry.  
  
Harry turned and though his leg hurt slightly, he hid the pain - standing straight up. The pain really was not much more than an annoyance. Harry's eyes were very clear behind the glasses - hiding nothing from Draco. Anger, rage, hatred and something that he thought good Harry Potter was not capable of shown through his glasses. There was a thirst to enact revenge. Harry leaned forwards a bit and said very quietly, " Go away."  
  
Draco gulped down hard involuntarily. He was not sure if he should challenge Harry. It was one thing to challenge him and his friends when there was no there to witness his encounter with them, but it was another to do it in front of school - the potential for embarrassment was too high. He had to make sure that the situation appeared as though Harry was the one that backed down, or he left because he had nothing else to do there - thus he left out of boredom. He half hoped Harry did not explode on him as he said, " Get a cold shower Potter. I need one too. This wading through the crowds gives you mudblood germs. Did you know that? I'd be careful, if I were you." He threw a look in Hermione's direction.  
  
Everyone in the room froze as they felt the aura of power around Harry swiftly change and grow. It was sending chills through most people, but Draco kept his cool - almost certain "perfect" Potter would not hit him first. He felt genuine fear when he saw Harry's eyes flicker for a second. Draco's insides felt very squeamish all of a sudden. Harry would have had said something and then hurt him, but he did neither.   
  
" He's not worth it, Harry." Hermione said, breaking the silence from the other side of the table.  
  
Her voice relaxed him. She was not sitting next to him, or else she would have been right next to him, holding his arm to make sure that he did not do something stupid. With a final glare, Harry sat back down. The tension was gone, but a few people moaned that they would not get to see a fight. Draco considered this a victory and started to strut out of the crowd, his two bodyguards leading the way, him a fair few steps back. He was holding his nose up so high, he did not see Ginny poke out her leg slightly as he passed her. He tripped and fell flat on his face.  
  
It was quite out of character for her to do something like that, but she had had enough. She felt it was her duty, after all he had insulted her brother and his friends - not to mention Harry. That last part had made her do what she did. Even though she was deathly afraid of Draco, she did it.  
  
Almost the entire hall burst into laughter. Professor Flitwick, who was the only teacher on duty, almost choked on his avocado. He had not interfered, because he had a soft spot for the boy. He was a champion dueler in his day, and Harry was the most promising of the students to get involved in the dueling classestournament - from what Ali Pasha had told told him. He just wished he had Harry in his house.   
  
Draco made a quick recovery and head back to the house table. There, he simmered in his own hatred for the dream team, Ron Weasley and the unknown assailant for a while, before remembering that he had to go and have a shower in order to make sure that he was actually the winner of the incident. He left quickly. This time he did not hold up his nose that high.  
  
Ron had thought about selling the autographed piece of parchment to Parvati, but the insult from Draco hit home. His family was doing financially better thanks to Percy's new job, but they were still considered poor by old wizarding families. He was not about to give substance to Draco's accusation to his families need for money. People holding the Weasley family at bay relaxed when Draco left.  
  
Ron gave Parvati a stern glare that told her that she was not supposed to pursue that line of thinking again. She sat back down in her seat looking flushed. The crowd dissipated a few seconds later, when they realised that no more interesting things are going to happen with the trio.  
  
Ron nor any other member of the trio, laugh. They were too sour to even savour the taste of sweet revenge on Draco. Ron, wanting to avoid lunch conversation about himself, asked where they had been - part curiosity, part wanting to put aside the nagging faint little voice that told him that they had been snogging each other behind his back. When he saw the startled face on both of them, alarms went off in his head. That little voice grew in pitch. _I told you so!_   
  
" We've been practising..." started Hermione.  
  
" Practising what?" Ron's slight edge to the voice was not apparent to Hermione, but Harry could pick it up. So did Parvati, who was sitting next to Lavender and Hermione. She gave a disapproving look to Ron, but no one but Lavender saw it. As Ginny passed Ron's side of the table, she too heard what he said, but she did not react. She knew him well, she knew exactly how jealous he could be. This reaction was just the tip of the iceberg. She took a seat next to Collin. She looked over at Hermione, and she wished it was her there. To be as close to Harry as she was. A fraction of it would have been wonderful. Maybe not his undying love, but something close to even friendship would have been nice.  
  
Harry started to doubt his intelligence at accepting Hermione's offer to train with her. On the one hand he had broken his promise to himself to do everything possible not to make Ron jealous of his non-existent relationship with her. On the other, he had already promised to help out Alicia. So he would not be able to help both girls to the maximum of his ability. He would always have to divide his attention. One the other - Harry had a mental smile at that thought_. I have three hands!_. On the other, he wanted to help Hermione. Ron obviously took it rather badly and that was the crux of his problem. " Actually we were going to try and practise for the Dueling tournament, but things did not work out." Harry said gesturing at his bandaged leg. It was an attempt by him to make the situation better. Though he was not sure if he had been very successful at it. _Ron looked satisfied_, he thought to himself.  
  
" What happened exactly...I am sorry for not asking about that before, by the way."  
  
Harry was glad that Ron had not jumped to some wrong conclusion about him and Hermione. " It's not a problem, really. What happened? Well..." Harry started a version of the story, which would have had left him with some dignity in front of Ron. But that was not what Hermione had in mind. She, in her infinite wisdom, decided that a more unbiased view was called for.  
  
Hermione knew Harry was going to keep it simple._ At the door to the special class room, we went in and I stepped on one of the brick men. The attacked my leg. The end._ That would have been his version of events. But Hermione wanted to make sure Ron got all the facts of the situation right. Aside from that, she thought it would be fun to tell a funny story. " We were coming from the Kitchens with food..." Hermione saw Ron's eyes open a bit wider, so she explained. "we had missed breakfast in the morning, so we took lunch as well, thinking we might be in there through lunch, or maybe just too worn out for lunch. But it did not go all according to plan." Hermione threw Harry a scowl.  
  
Harry was not sure why Hermione had given him a scowl. She was more worried about his well being when they were alone. Now she seemed to have had decided that it was all Harry's fault. It was almost enough to think that girls were a mystery that probably they themselves did not know the answer to.  
  
" It was not my fault..." Harry tried to say, but Hermione ignored him and Ron was not paying attention to him either, for he had realised that Hermione was the one that was going to say the story with more accuracy. Not just because it was in her character to do so, but also because it was something that Harry did not want her to do.  
  
" Anyway..."  
  
Hermione continued and Ron listened to her story. As she gave the details of their little misadventure, Harry noticed that Hermione did not look very often at Ron while she explained it. Her eyes, Harry thought, were almost constantly moving around; focusing on Professor Flitwick, to himself, to Ginny, to Ron's shoulder to her wand on the table. If Harry did not know better he would have had thought that Hermione was avoiding looking directly at Ron while she explained it. If that was true then he guessed it was most likely to be because of Draco saying Ron had a crush on her - something that despite being true, he knew, she was oblivious to.  
  
Hermione said that she had no such feelings for either of her two best friends, who happened to be male. He reasoned her avoidance with being a bit embarrassed, which of course, he thought she had a right to be. Hermione and he had had a chat about their feelings when he told her about his "lost" two days in Morocco. But to Harry's knowledge, Ron or Hermione had not had that same conversation. He guessed, if Hermione did have a talk with Ron, then he would not been seeing the civilised Ron he was seeing. Ron would have had been either very upset, or breaking down crying - it was unlikely, but Harry was not sure, how Ron would handle being rejected by Hermione. Extremes of emotions were his forte, and crying did not really seem that unlikely, when he thought aout it.  
  
Ron absorbed the information quietly. Harry noticed that Hermione missed out the part about Dobby thinking she was his girlfriend, much to his relief.  
  
Only the timely nod to Hermione at exactly the right time, and the small smile when she said that Harry forgot the password were the evidence that he could compile which showed he was actually listening to her. It was not just looking at her and thinking other thoughts, as he usually did with everyone - unless the topic was Quidditch.  
  
When Hermione finally reiterated how Harry had stepped on one of the brick men, Ron erupted in laughter which drew a large amount of people's attention to the table. Professor Snape, who had entered the room at that moment, cast a scathing glance at the trio, which caused Ron to tone down the laugher, but not permanently. Little fits of giggling would escape him once in a while as he tried to contain his happiness. Their own table had not been paying much attention to the trio after the short incident. But that changed. All the attention and being the focus of it was making Hermione's cheek turn pink from embarrassment. Harry used his un-bandaged leg to kick Ron under the table, who stopped the final bits of his laughter.  
  
Ron quickly finished the food that he had been playing with on his plate, before Harry and Hermione had gotten there. Harry and Hermione had already finished theirs. After Harry was helped up by Hermione, something that he really did not think he needed, she had said that the elves would be rather saddened to know that they had not finished their food - emaphasising how demoralised they would feel if they think thier hero had not liked their food. That meant that they finished the food as much as they could before going to lunch. With their stomachs filled, Hermione had suggested that they not take their bags with them. They were going to come back to the same room again anyway as they had Transfiguration with the headmaster there.  
  
Ron had his transfiguration class with the other Gryffindor students and Slytherins as classmates. It was separate from Harry and Hermione . He offered to help Harry to the room, before he went off to his own class. Harry did not really think he needed help, but Hermione was clear in what she wanted from him. It was either take Ron's help or she was going to make him go to the hospital wing. After Harry agreed to the blackmail, Ron helped him up. " You know what?" Ron asked Harry.  
  
" What?"  
  
Ron had a smirk on his face when he said, " Hermione's right." Harry did not need to think - He knew what Ron was going to say next. " You're heavy you know?"  
  
Hermione knew it too, it seems as a smile crossed her face just before Ron said it.  
  
" Says who? Mr. Flabby guts." Harry tried to pinch Ron in the stomach.  
  
" I don't have flabby guts!" Ron defended.  
  
" Do too."  
  
"Do not!" said Ron, sounding almost like a child. " Besides, Hermione agrees that you're heavy - and as we all know, she is always right."  
  
Ron's compliment caused Hermione to once again get a light pink hue to her cheeks, but Harry was not appreciative of Ron using him to get brownie points with Hermione. It was one thing when he had sided with her in the argument with Hermione. It was quite different to use him now to do what he was doing. Harry did not mind Ron buttering up Hermione in front of him, but not at his expense. He decided to retaliate.  
  
" Muscle is heavier than fat, Ron. Ask Hermione. So you're right, I might be heavier than you Ronniekins, but my being a bit shorter than you and weighing more means that I have more muscle and less fat than you."  
  
Ron's smirk died and it was replaced with a query in his mind to find something else to occupy Harry's thoughts. The perfect excuse literally walked into the room right at that second. Ron realised that Harry liked Alicia a lot. He did not know if it was a crush or something like that, but he knew that pointing her out would make Harry look. He pointed at the entrance that they were heading for and said, " Hey! Look it's Alicia."  
  
Harry looked up to see her, while at the same time she looked up - almost as if some powerful being forced her to look up at that very instant from the book she was reading. She carried a piece of parchment that she was fanned herself with occasionally.  
  
The sound in the room fell slightly, before it picked up again - Alicia's eyes had dropped to his bandaged leg.  
  
She changed direction. Instead of heading to Ravenclaw table, where she was originally headed, Alicia crossed to them. She had an expression of anger and disappointment, mixed with bit of joy and something that Harry could not recognise, but he hoped it was something that was more than friendly feelings for him. Of course, he knew, she had no interest in him like that. " What happened?" she asked, looking at Hermione, then back at Harry's leg.  
  
" He had an accident." Ron put in, glad that his physical fitness was not in question anymore. It was just his way of making sure that the conversation moved closer to Harry.  
  
" Why isn't he in the hospital wing?" Alicia asked Hermione, insinuating somewhat that Hermione was at fault.  
  
This time Hermione did get to answer. " It happened when we were supposed to train for the Dueling tournament, but--"  
  
But Alicia jumped the gun again. " Training injury?" She said exasperatedly, " Why didn't you take him to Madame Pomfrey? You know he could be very badly injured - just because he does not look that hurt does not mean that it's not bad. What if it gets worse and he can't play?."  
  
Harry's hopes that her concerns that she was concerned about him being motivated by something other than just a Quidditch concern was shattered. _Confirming things, I already know, he thought solemnly.  
  
_Alicia continued, ". If anything happened to him, we would loose. Not to mention the fact that this might lead to some serious long term problems for him." Harry did not realise it, but Alicia said it intentionally that way. She had no intention of showing interest in Harry in a public setting. She was not going to give her feelings away to other people who might tell Harry. Hermione was a security leak that had been plugged by threatening her with the possibility going to the ball with Malfoy. A bluff that worked rather well - from what she could see. _May be it worked a little too well, _she had thought that it was a bad move to confirm Hermione's suspicions when she had. If she had not, then Hermione might have had helped them. Or said something to Harry to make him a bit more brave.  
  
It suddenly occurred to Harry that Alicia was scolding Hermione because of his stubbornness. He did not like the way she had jumped to the conclusion that Hermione was at fault so, he decided to act. Harry interrupted Alicia, who was talking so fast, Hermione had not a chance to get in a word edgewise to defend herself.  
  
" Alicia..." he said, putting his hand on her shoulder.  
  
Alicia stopped almost instantly, when she registered Harry's voice and hand on her shoulder. She turned slowly to look at him, to see why he had asked for her attention in such a manner. She saw his eyes. They were an ocean of green. Clear, capable of looking right into a persons soul. She shook the thoughts out of her head. When she looked at him, he said, " Don't scold her. It's actually my fault. She begged me to go, but I didn't. If you have to scold someone, scold me."

Alicia did not look convinced so Harry continued, " She even threatened to carry me there, if it got worse. Don't scold her for my mistake."  
  
Ron chuckled as he imagined Hermione lifting up Harry and carrying him. She had a slight frame and even though she was strong - Ron had been with Harry many a times when she had dragged both of them to the library, despite their attempts at trying to escape her. But then his face broke into a scowl. He did not want to Harry and Hermione to be like that in his mental image. One carried by the other. It was too similar to the cavemen days, when women were literally carried away by interested men. That image in his mind implied that Hermione was the one who was interested in him. It was not a thought that he liked.  
  
Alicia looked convinced then.  
  
Alicia realised that Hermione, a straight arrow girl, broke several rules to come and see Harry that night in the Hospital Wing. She did that when she was supposed to be mad at him. She did that when Harry was not going to listen to her apologise, because she felt that she was wrong and had to get it off her chest. She had done it, instead of waiting a day for him to wake up. 

It made her think that, they had a deep friendship that would always be there. But she had feelings for Harry that she couldn't name. It might have been love, but what was she supposed to call them? She had decided to call them "crush-type" feelings, just so that they had a name. Something that was not too deep for her to handle.  
  
After she finished mentally kicking herself, she began to apologise to Hermione. Alicia did not like being wrong and she liked apologising even less. But she knew when she was wrong she had to pay for it somehow. As much as it hurt her pride to be proven wrong, she did it. " Oops!" Alicia's face turned pink in embarrassment. She moved to Hermione and said, " I really am sorry, Hermione. It's just that--" she stopped and looked at the floor for a moment. She continued again, " I should not have...you know." It was hard for her to say it, but Hermione did not make her actually go through it.  
  
" Yes. I know." Hermione said.  
  
Hermione was a forgiving girl. She would forgive honest mistakes. But like everything with her, she had her limits and only extreme cases would she reconsider them. Hermione would have had forgiven Alicia anyway, but knowing that she was motivated partially out of her concern for Harry as a person, helped a great deal. Hermione saw an opportunity to do what she had been trying to make Harry do with any excuse she could think of - send Harry to go see the school nurse. Her face spawned the most devilish smile that Harry had ever seen.  
  
" Maybe you can convince him to go to the hospital wing." Hermione said, just loud enough for Harry to hear.  
  
Harry was going to interrupt, but Alicia spoke first. " Oh! You don't have to worry about that." She said smiling at Hermione. " I need my seeker fit and ready for the next game."  
  
" Alicia there really is no need for that." Harry tried to tell the girls, " It's not really that bad. It's just a bit sore and there is the occasional annoying itching inside the bandage, but aside from that, I an just."  
  
" You're not fine!" said both girls in unison. A few of the boys who were leaving the Great Hall gave Harry envious looks.  
  
Alicia was the one that continued after that moment of unplanned unity with Hermione's mind. " You've just come out that horrible coma. Anything could be hurt inside. Just because it does not look hurt does not mean that it's not damaged." Alicia had run out of bullets and she looked to Hermione for help.  
  
She was only too glad to help Alicia out. " She's right, Harry. You just recovered. Your immune system must be still shot. Something in that injury of yours could become infected. I've read of cases that start as a small pain in the leg and in the end doctors have to amputate entire legs off to keep the person alive." It was true. Hermione just left out the fact that it happened after frostbite had set in.  
  
Harry was genuinely distressed because of what Hermione had said. He was not sure how much of it was true, but assumed that even with an exaggeration, it was possible that something like a small cut could kill a person, if the cut let other germs inside the body that were much more dangerous. Harrry still remembered that much from his muggle schooling. Books had often been his escape from the terrible life that was a reality for him. But he still did not think it was really that serious.  
  
" But if my immune system was so terrible, don't you think Madam Pomfrey would have had held me for longer? And she didn't say anything about my immune system when she told me that I overexerted myself in the afternoon check up."  
  
Hermione was not sure what to do now, because Harry had a good bit of logic. This time Alicia was the one that came to her rescue. " The only reason that Madam Pomfrey let you out is because the headmaster told her to do it. She told me that if it was up to her, she would have had kept you in for a week to make sure you recovered properly. And a week after that just to make you suffer for making her and the headmaster worry."

Hermione and Ron on fought back the urge to laugh at the statement. It was rather like something that Madame Pomfrey would do. 

" But still--" Harry tried again to protest, but this time, Alicia put an end to it. 

" That's it! You're going! No more talking!" Alicia had just run out of patience. So had apparently Hermione. Both of them were glaring at him, and Ron, not wanting to be associated with Harry, let go of him and stood a bit away - but still supported Harry's weight of the bad leg. He was not going to give Hermione, the mental image of him standing by Harry, when she was furious with him. He did not think it would bode well for his chances with her. Harry gave up. It was clear to him that neither Hermione nor Alicia was going to listen to him. Before Alicia even more angry, he decided to surrender. He knew that Alicia would not be returning his feelings for her, but that did not mean that he was going to squander the affection that she did have for him. 

" Okay. I'll do it.... erm, I guess, I'll go." Alicia and Hermione gave each other triumphant looks. Harry turned to Ron, " I guess we go to the hospital wing first, mate." Ron thanked Merlin that the class he was supposed to have was on the same level - other wise, he did not want to lose the house points because of his tardiness. 

" Actually, I needed to talk to him for a while. So you two can get to your classes if you want. You know Quidditch things."

" It's not a--" Ron was going to say that he was going to make it his class just in time if they left then. He was also interested because Alicia had said the magic word. Quidditch, but Hermione interrupted. 

" That would be good. I need to get to the classroom early anyway and my class is in the other direction. I really would have been late." She said. Ron was going to say that it was only a long route, if they took the normal corridor. She knew the secret passages, so why she would not use them was beyond him. Hermione put an end to his planned interruption when she grabbed his arm and proceeded to drag him out of the hall. Hermione waved back at the door and then they were gone. 

" So..." Alicia said.

" So..." Harry replied. There was of tension in the air, but it subsided when Alicia cracked a smile. 

" Opps. I forgot to do something." She manoeuvred Harry onto the nearest seat and rushed to do something at the Ravenclaw table. He saw Alicia hand the parchment that she had been fanning herself with to a rather gloomy looking Roger. Roger read it, and became even gloomier. Alicia patted him on the back and returned to Harry's side. 

" Something wrong?" asked Harry fearing that Voldemort had attacked Roger's family. 

" Nothing very serious," replied Alicia. " We should go." 

Harry nodded and was about to get up by himself, but Alicia put his arm around her shoulder and started to helped him up. Harry did not protest this time. Not only because he needed the help, but because he liked the closeness. The spicy scent of her hair, the sound of her soft breathing, and the simple closeness they were sharing.

  
  
~o0o~

  
  
Hermione talked only for a second with Ron, before she went off to her class. He had asked why Hermione did what she did. Hermione gave him a simple answer that she needed to get back to her class and change back into school uniform.  
  
That was a few minutes ago. She was now waiting patiently at the door to the special classroom. Hermione had been locked out and couldn't figure out why, and suspected that someone had changed the password, much to her annoyance. To top it off, it seemed the Headmaster was running late. Hermione was fidgeting. She had left her books and uniform in there, because she thought that she would be changing there, just before class. She couldn't even run to the tower and get her other uniform, since Professor Dumbledore might find her absent. Not to mention the fact that she already missed a whole 45 seconds of the class.  
  
Just when Hermione had thought that she would take a chance and run to the dorms to get her uniform, she saw the headmaster walk casually towards her. He seemed in no hurry to come to the class - which only served to annoy her. She checked her watch. She had lost one minute and fifteen seconds of the very important class. She pushed up her glasses on her nose - a sure sign of her impatience.  
  
" Ms. Granger," the headmaster said when he finally reached her. " I do apologise for the inconvenience my changing of the password had caused you."  
  
" It's okay," she said, even though she thought his punctuality needed the apology for.  
  
He tapped the tip of his wand to the wall twice and said, " Virgo." The brick men filed away, one of them looking a bit squashed, but otherwise, the rest of them were quite alright. The squashed one and it's friends sent Hermione a few glares. Hermione twirled her wand at them, making it clear she wanted no funny business from them.  
  
" I heard what happened to Mr. Potter, is he alright?"  
  
Hermione thought that he probably knew the answer, but she answered it anyway. " I think so. He's in the hospital wing with Alicia Spinnet." As soon as the answer to the Professor's question was done, she asked her own - she tried. " Ermm... Professor?"  
  
It was almost like he knew the question. " It is quite alright, Ms. Granger. You do not have to change into your school clothes. The lesson is rather important, so we should get started."  
  
_That's it! He knows how to read minds!_

Harry had often told her that the headmaster seemed to read his mind. Answering questions, before he has a chance to voice them. " Ms. Granger, I feel that I must tell you something." Hermione's face ashened with worry. _Did something happen to mom and dad? Is he going to take away my prefects badge because Harry came into my room? Does he know about the_ --Hermione never got to finish her thought.  
  
To Hermione's concerned face, the headmaster gave a reassuring smile. " I assure you Ms. Granger, it is nothing as terrible as you think." Hermione relaxed visibly as she released her breath. " What I wanted to tell was something that I've said to Mr. Potter a few times. You may already know it, but regardless, I will tell you, just so you're certain."  
  
Hermione was getting ready for something huge.  
  
" I do not need to know how to read minds, in order to know what you were thinking." He made a pair of comfortable looking chairs appear in the room, and gestured for her to take a seat. When Hermione was seated, he continued.  
  
" It is simply observing your surroundings and drawing conclusions from them. For example: You were flushing. I suspected that you were breaking a school rule and your casual wear is what must have had made you feel like that..."

Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

" The fact that since we entered the room, you eyes seemed to go to the end of the room, where your bag and the school uniform is. It is very easy to assume that you left it there to so you may wear it quickly, before the class began again."   
  
For anyone else that would have had made them think that, the headmaster did not read her mind. But because of the wording that he had used, Hermione was not certain if that was the truth. She was tempted to say, _" You said you did not need to, not that you are not capable of it."_ But she was certain that he would not confirm her. 

Why would he give away his powers to a 16 year old girl that was just one of well over a thousand students.

Since that matter was dealt with, she decided that ask how were they to proceed with lessons - eager to get started. She was really perplexed as to what they would do for the second part of the class. When Harry and Hermione practised casting the ProTemp spell for AniMagi on each other. Though the room was specifically designed for people like Harry and Hermione, the headmaster being a warlock was able to enter. He had no animagus form - so thus, according to Hermione's research it was impossible to use the spell. " How are we going to do the lesson without Harry. I mean, I can't use it on you."  
  
There was a twinkle in his eyes, and he leaned forward in the chair and said, " That is a very good question. I am sure you have done thorough research in the ProTem spell."  
  
Hermione nodded hear head in earnest.  
  
" The true purpose of the ProTem spell is different then the one that we use it for and we have used it for Animagus transformation so long, that the real reason has been removed from writing long ago. Save a precious few, this knowledge is lost. The spell is not one to aid the process of Animagus transformation - but of mind manipulation."  
  
" It's a mind control spell!" Hermione half whispered this - afraid that more people would find out the real reason for the spell. If Imperius was illegal, then these would be too, she reasoned.  
  
" In a way."  
  
Hermione had honestly thought that what she had heard first was wrong, but her face exploded in horror when Professor Dumbledore confirmed it. She was being taught magic that was illegal. Mind manipulating spells, potions or charms were illegal - no matter how little they affected people.  
  
" It is important for you to know, that this is not a spell that has effects after it has been terminated. The spell gives the caster the power to reduce or increase the intensity of emotions in the mind of the victim--" Hermione shuddered a little. Professor Dumbledore rectified his choice of words, "--um, candidate. Effects are only temporary - not to mention the fact that the effect itself is time limited."  
Hermione who had listened very intently had just one question, " How long?"  
" Depending on the wizard, about half an hour. It is a draining process as you no doubt know from your research."  
  
Hermione nodded.  
  
" What you don't know is that wizards have been known to fall unconscious for months on ends because of the drain. The reason that I did not tell you and Mr. Potter before, about this is a bit complicated. I have been waiting for the correct time to arise, and since fate has given us this opportunity, I will try my best to say what needs to be said."  
  
Hermione was confused. She was not sure why she was being told these things. Not to mention the fact that she was rather torn about if she should be running from the room. Her beloved headmaster was teaching her Dark Arts. There was a thrill in learning those, but except for the Unforgivables, all other dark curses were very simple to do. She knew that it was like so because it took very little to become a master of Dark Arts.

" There is a reason, I could not tell this to you before… It is a complicated explanation, so please pay extra attention."

Hermione strained her ears as she did not want to miss a single word. She might not have had known the reasons for telling her, but she wanted to know it all. She hoped it would give her a better understanding. 

" Harry, as you know is very determined, and quite possibly too much for his own good. But his determination is something that comes from not knowing his limits. I have never tried to tell him what is normal for other wizards. I have not done it because I fear, it would limit him. He could think that's all that was possible and not try to get get further. It could be even worse…"   
  
Something could be worse?, Hermione asked mentally.  
  
" What could be worse?" He said making Hermione think about looking for books in the library about mind reading. She did not like her private thoughts being exposed to others. " Him intentionally not trying to get past what people have done before – for the fear that he may be singled out yet again. It's worry because, we don't know what he is capable of. Telling him his limits will just put barriers in his mind. If I do not tell him, that wizards and witches usually have to terminate the spell around about the half an hour mark, he would not know to stop at that point. He would only know stop when he felt weak. This is why I am telling you this now, as he is not here."  
  
Hermione could not understand why he did not just summon her to his office to talk about it instead of waiting as long as he had. In fact, why had he not told her when Harry was sick and she had classes with him alone. Then a small voice in her head piped up, Y_ou were fighting with Harry. He probably knew of it – the whole school did. Probably did not really know, how much to trust you with.  
_  
" I could not tell you in front of him that you better stop around about the half an hour mark - for you can hurt yourself because of it. If he was there, he would have had thought that same restriction applied to himself. He would limit himself. In the upcoming battle with Lord Voldemort." Professor Dumbledore was pleasantly surprised that Hermione had not flinched. "We need Harry. We need someone as powerful as he is going to become on our side. We can't do anything to stunt his growth."  
  
Hermione had assumed that Harry was just beginning to get powerful, but until the Professor had pointed it out to her, she was not fully sure. She knew he was going to be powerful, but the way the Professor had been saying it, it made her feel that Harry would become more powerful then he was. That was something that Hermione had never thought of as being possible. But aside from that, it was also something that made her feel that they had not even seen a fraction of his true strength yet.  
  
A stunned Hermione could only nod, as one of her pet theories about Professor Dumbledore knowing everything was partially shattered. He had said it himself that, he did not know what Harry was really capable of. Harry certainly was a lot more her own expectation of the "The Boy Who Lived". The thought of that much power in one person would have had worried her. But she trusted Harry. She knews Harry would never abuse it.   
  
" Now that you know the truth of the spell, can you see a way practice the spell without having Harry present here?"  
  
Hermione nodded.  
  
She got off her chair and transfigured it into a cat. Quite a hard transformation, but Hermione managed to do it - in two tries. The firs one had left the cat with a wooden leg. _Not enough power_, she thought when she did the transformation again.  
  
Professor Dumbledore had been a bit surprised that Hermione had thought to use an animal before a sentient being. Most students would have had said for the headmaster to become the candidate. Ignoring the fact that the spell would not work on him as he was a warlock as well the fact that working from a non-sentient being to one that was a sentient would have been easier. He would have to then explain that non-sentient beings were easier to perform the spell on the first time. This did not make him feel happy. 

" Excellent. Let's begin then."  
  
For the first part of the class, Hermione learned several new things. A more accurate way to hold her wand during the transformations, was one of the more interesting lessons, but there were more. She learned of more complicated spells to do magic, that had fairly simple spells to do the same. It helped to better focus the mind.   
  
This all happened while the transfigured cat paced the room. After about an hour, the headmaster saw the cat was getting bored so he summoned two fairies. A bright blue and neon white shimmering one. The high pitched little creatures zoomed around the room at an incredible speed. Occasionally they collided with each other and a shower of gold specks would follow. They played with the cat, keeping it busy. As they played, Hermione improved in doing easy transfigurations with harder spells.  
  
When it was time for the mid class break after an hour and a half since they started, Hermione tried to relax a bit. She went to the corner of the room and quietly started eating a sandwich and a big bar of chocolate. 

Hermione's hair had started to grow from the time she came back from Morocco, and while Harry was recovering in the hospital wing, she had regained her full length of hair – much to her annoyance. The fairies seemed to like her long hair just fine, as they had a grand time playing in it – mock fighting each other. Occasionally one of them would sit on the frame of her glasses to rest. The white one seemed very interested in it. It tried to take off with it a fair few times, before the red one had a very highpitched conversation with it. Hermione played with the cat a while, which was a lot like crookshanks, but with a lot of differences. Aside from the fur, the gender diffence, there really was not much they had in common. This one liked to walk a lot… Crookshanks… well, Hermione knew she fed her cat a bit too much. But it really was not her fault. Those big yellow eyes looked at her, and she had no choice but to give a little more.  
  
Hermione wondered, if it would be possible for her to talk to Crookshanks, when she finally managed to become an animagus. She still had not figure out how Sirius had managed to "talk" Crookshanks into helping him.  
  
As Hermione had been playing, Professor Dumbledore had stayed in the other side of the room, reading, while chamber music played in the background. She could see why the headmaster liked the music. It was serene. Clear. Crystal and pure. It reminded her of life and it's essence.   
  
When the music stopped, Hermione almost felt the withdrawal. But that craving for more was gone, when she heard the headmaster cough to get her attention.   
  
Hermione picked up the small cat in a bundle in her arms. She held it up and said, " Don't worry. I won't hurt you. It's time to see if I can do this or not…"  


~o0o~

  
It did not take that long to get to the hospital wing for the Alicia and Harry. On the way, she coaxed out the full story from Harry. Harry had planned telling her the censored version of the events, because after all she did not need to know how he had forgotten to tell the password and had resorted to hitting the door. He saw no reason to make himself a laughing stalk with her. Besides that, his arm on her shoulder and the closeness they were sharing was making Harry feel good. He did not want to ruin the moment.  
  
" You are hiding something," said Alicia.  
  
" I'm not..." he tried to lie, but even he could tell it from his own voice.  
  
" Harry Potter, if you think I did not pick up that quiver in your voice you're wrong!" She let go of him, almost making him lose balance, because he had been relaying on her too much and the sudden abandonment made him loose balance – almost. Alicia continued speaking facing him, and Harry could see a look of disapproval on her face. He knew it enough from Hermione's face. This was very similar. Only Alicia's face had a light tint of pink on her cheek. " We were only this…" she put her index finger and thumb together very close as a sign of exaggerated measurements, " …far apart. I clearly heard that quiver in your voice, so don't lie."  
  
" Umm… Umm…" Harry was thinking faster than the time he had burnt himself out in Runes and Dead Languages class. It was not fast enough.  
  
" Please tell me." She said, almost pleading. Then she changed tacks again – this time something Harry did not expect. " You do that or, I'll be forced to use my feminine charm on you." She was batting her eyelashes and did a semi-seductive pose. As much as Harry would have had liked for her to actually use her feminine charms on him, she was just being herself and teasing Harry. Harry knew that. He just wondered why all of a sudden girls around him were in a teasing mood. _This never happened before Morocco_, he thought.  
  
" You don't have to use _feminine_ charms on me," he said. " I would have had told you later."  
  
Alicia gave him a look. It was a lie and Alicia knew that.  
  
" Okay, maybe never… but we will never know now, will we?" Harry thought to capitalise on the fact that she though he was damn near helpless to walk. " By the way, do you think, you could help me to the door?" He was hoping that the conversation would take another turn. He really did not want to tell Alicia the whole story.   
  
Alicia saw right through it. She was firm. " After you tell me."  
  
" I will… just help me." Harry made his face appear as innocent as possible to look.

Alicia caved in a bit.   
  
" Okay, but you have to tell me as we go to the door." She said.  
  
Harry nodded. " It's a deal then."  
  
Alicia came back and Harry could relieve a bit of pressure from his injured leg. Though he had said it was just an irritation, it was a bit more than that. It hurt slightly, but it was nowhere near as bad as Hermione and Alicia had made it seem.   
  
To his great surprise, Alicia did not laugh at him when he told the story. She smiled at Harry's peculiar behaviour –which she said was kind of cute. She did not laugh like Ron had, and it did not make him feel like an idiot. He was a bit upset at Hermione that she had said the part of his absentmindedness to Ron, but thinking back – he was glad. It made the fact that Alicia didn't seem more important. He did not really blame Hermione for it. She just told the truth.  
  
Harry had a very odd thought after that. Something so out of the blues that he was stumped to think where that had come from. When he saw her smile, he saw the white teeth behind it too. He thought, her teeth looked whiter than the moon on a clear night…without the grey marks of the craters. Harry knew he had a crush on Alicia. But those kinds of thoughts, he was certain, he never had with Cho. Sure he remembered thinking about Cho with fondness, but never comparing her features to something – _that _elaborate.   
  
Alicia settled Harry onto a waiting bed, and went to get Madam Pomfrey. It was a few minutes before Madam Pomfrey came to look in on Harry. " You again?" She said, as if she did not know it was going to be him. 

" Hullo…" Harry said courteously. " I don't think it's that badly hurt. I think it's just the spring."  
  
" Are you telling me my job, young man?"  
  
Harry panicked. He wanted to sweet talk her into not making his visit longer than it had be. This was exactly opposite of what he wanted. " No. That's not what I mean…"  
  
" If you don't fidget, then I can get my job done is a second, and you might be out of here tonight."  
  
Harry relaxed instantly, and became very co operative as Madame Pomfrey commented on the bandage and how well it was wrapped. But then she set about ripping it off. She pressed and poked a few times, and used a metallic round object, which glowed different colours in different places as it passed over his skin.   
  
When she finished looking at the leg, she told him that it was not that serious, but he would have to stay overnight.  
  
Harry did not like it and protested, but it was no use. She was not going to let him go that night. His future would depend on whether or not he was well enough by tomorrow. Harry knew her interpretation of well would be three days after he was able to run one thousand miles. Harry would have had protested more, had Alicia not told him shut-up – actually just a glare that Harry understood the meaning of. After Madame Pomfrey left to deal with the case next door, Alicia came over and told Harry off properly.  
  
" You know she is really doing it for your own good, and don't even think about telling me that you're better. Wonder boy or not, you need time to heal. It's not like you have this power to heal your body on command!"  
  
Harry would have had said something, but thought better of it. There was really no need to tell her information, when she had not asked him a direct question. He would have had to lie in any case.  
  
" Plus, if you don't let it heal properly, it will just get worse. It might become one of your weaknesses. With You-Know-Who alive again, I don't think you need one more. Besides, you will have the pleasure of my company for rest of the day." she said, drawing a seat next to Harry's bed.  
  
" You're staying?!" It was a question as much as a surprised statement. Harry was genuinely shocked – and his face told it.  
  
" Yes," she smiled broadly at him, before she started to rummage through her bag. " Ahah!" She said, in a little burst of victory over the fiendish bag, trying to hide her things in there. She started to take out something. It was two decks of exploding snaps.  
  
Harry was not sure if he should ask her why she was staying. He did not want to give the impression that he did not want her there, but he was curious." Why are you staying?"  
  
Alicia looked up. She looked taken back at the question and she was. She was sure that Harry liked her. So when he questioned her, she was afraid that she got all the signals mixed up. It's been known to happen to her. She had the same thing with Fred Weasley. They had been to two dates and it was just a friendly thing. He had thought that they were romantic dates. But when he had tried to kiss her, Alicia had set him stright. She liked him as a friend. Nothing more. As far as she knew, George was not terribly upset by it. He was chasing girls the next day.  
  
" It's not like I have something better to do." She said. Harry was not sure why Alicia would not have something better to do. Almost reading his mind, " I don't have classes today. I guess you are feeling bad, but if you want rest, I can go. Come to think of it, I guess I really _should_ go." Alicia started to get up from the chair, but Harry grabbed her hand.  
  
It sent a small jolt through Harry. It was not something he expected – the end result was that he felt his face start to get mildly hot.   
  
" No!" He said it a bit louder than he should have. He did not let go of her hand – afraid she might take the wrong idea and just run. " I mean… that's not what I meant. I was wondering why you were staying, because I thought you had classes. Last time I checked Headgirls still had to go to classes… I just did not want you getting in trouble because of me."  
  
Alicia sat back down on the chair. " I have free periods in the evening just this week and only till the commentator trials. I am so tired after keeping that bunch of students in check, I need some resting time. Plus, the headmaster suspended Roger's Headboy duties for a week. I am now stuck doing all our duties. I am rotating prefects to help me do that. Like today I had Draco help me keep in check all the boys. Did a terrible job! He could only control his housemates – even that was because he bribed most of them. It's like I am the one getting punished, I tell you."  
  
Harry laughed. " Sorry, but that was funny."  
  
" I aim to please."  
  
Harry smiled. " Why did he get suspended?"  
  
" I'm sorry, I can't say it. It's confidential between him and the headmaster."  
  
" It's okay."  
  
It was then, Alicia realised that Harry had not let go of her hand yet, but they were talking to each other. The physical contact seemed to feel right to her. But she was certain that Harry would not react well to tell him to take it off. She expected a flurry of apologies. Something he did not want him to think that he needed to do for touching her like her did.  
  
" Let's play then. Three games. We're playing for something."  
  
" You mean a bet!"  
  
Alicia looked at him like she was offended that he would be thinking that she was going to gamble. " Not exactly. We'll play MonDock. The looser treats the winner with something."  
  
Harry, having never played a game called that, asked her, " The rules are same?"  
  
Alicia was thinking to herself that she would loose intentionally, and it might lead to her having to treat him to something really special. _May be a haircut and some good clothes… no… maybe a kiss… _With that thought in mind, Alicia began to deal the cards. It was then that the exceptionally imaginative part of her brain piped up. _Who knows where that kiss might lead to…_   
  
" Kind of, I'll explain as we play the first one. The first game can be a trial one."

Harry who'd just sat up again cut her train of thoughts short. "Alicia?" he said softly, drawing her attention.  
  
Turning towards him, she absentmindedly replied "Yes?"  
  
Alicia could have had said, "_What?_". It would have been the same, although the emotions behind it were somewhat different. Saying _"Yes", _sounded much more polite to her at the moment. Of course, she could have said "_Excuse me?_" or "_Pardon?_" but they would've both sounded snobby.   
  
" Why am I so nervous?" Alicia asked herself.  
  
" Perhaps, because you're afraid to loose?" Harry answered.  
  
Alicia looked up at him.  
  
She saw the slight grin form on his face. She seriously wondered if, in addition to his many other powers, he could read minds.  
  
Harry couldn't quite make up the emotions on her face. When he figured some of it to come from shock and embarrassment, he said, "you said that last one out loud."  
  
Alicia recovered from her shock quickly. She decided that she needed to calm down and release some of the tension. _If only he knew the real reason…, _she thought - silently this time. " Actually, I've was afraid I was going to make you look bad - squashing you as badly as I'm going to." Alicia answered the question that Harry had asked before, quite mischievously too.  
  
"Not a single chance!" Harry said, sounding much more confident than he truly was. He had agreed to play a game that he didn't know the rules for – sufficed to say, he was nervous. But showing that to Alicia would have been something that he would put in his list of things not to do with the girl you have a crush on.  
  


Alicia recalled the first time she had ever played this game. It had actually been with Fred and George, in the common room. _To even think I might have ever gotten involved with one of those two lunatics, _she thought incredulously. _If they pull a prank on me again, I swear that..._" Even though she tried to convince herself that they solely were "silly immature children", she would admit – painfully yes – that they were the ones with whom she had the most fun with. Memory of that was still etched in her mind very well. The twins had come down to the common room to take a break from their study or so they said. Alicia, knowing them as well as she did, knew their big prank of week had hit a bump and they were going to try and relax a bit before they went back to work on it. They brought with them two decks of exploding snaps cards and their up-to-no-good smiles.   
  
She had been going through past tactical notes, to plan strategy for their upcoming match. That was in her fifth year. Being a co-captain, be it in Quidditch or any other sport, usually meant you had quite a strong word on what was going to be done regarding the tactics, etc. — but it was not true with Oliver. Usually Oliver was so independent, that he really did not need a co-captain. He really knew what he wanted, and what was best for the team. That was the first time that independent Oliver had come to her – crawling – to find a strategy to help them win. With Harry's fits and the dementors being so close, Oliver was deadly afraid of loosing a game. Oliver begged and then, before she could even say that she would be happy to do her co-captain duties – he had threatened her. Alicia remembered the odd feeling of power when she realised he needed her help and was desperate. She did not abuse that power. Though, she was very rightly tempted.  
"Hey!", she remembered saying, to George – she could tell the twins apart. Something the two boys, to this day, claimed their own mothers could not. Alicia, of course did not believe it. 

Mrs. Weasley was a wonderful woman from all accounts. Though she had not met her, she could not believe the twins about something like that. She dismissed it as one of the many fictional tales the male members of the Weasley family had left in the school. Weasleys, she knew, liked telling tall tales – she still remembered one by Harry's awkward looking friend. She had heard him, spreading the tale of his kidnapping and conspiracy plots against him, after the second task was finished. The story was so baseless, that she had to tell a few of her more gullible classmates about the peaceful nature of the merpeople. A few of them refused to believe her even then – they found Harry's friends version more believable. _I must learn his name._ She thought to herself. It was getting tiring to even think of him with a long description like that.  
  
George had just snatched the notes from her — she knew that was a possibility when the twins had entered and no one else was in the room. They liked to be the center of attention – if they could not get it, they would get rather upset about it.  
  
" Sorry", George said, not sorry at all, "…but Fred and I have a great new game we'd like to show you."  
  
She knew they had come to relax, but she remembered thinking of how fishy the whole idea sounded to her then.   
  
" Well…", suspiciously replied Alicia, "…I guess a little break wouldn't do me any harm..."  
  
" Excellent!" enthusiastically said Fred. There was a tone of mischief in his voice. _I wonder, if spending time with the twins counts as a break_._  
  
_During the next twenty minutes, Alicia and the twins played a game of what the two boys called "MonDock". The boys made a big deal about emphasising the 'D' in the word – she was sure they were doing that to take attention from somewhere else. The card game required two Exploding Snaps decks and when the rules had been clearly explained to her, Alicia had never heard of it. She thought it was fairly likely that the game never existed.   


  
" I won. Again," Alicia declared. Someone who did not know her might have had thought that she was boasting proudly, but someone more experienced would have had told them that she was merely bored. She had won eight times in a row in her first time playing. It was even more surprising provided she had never been any good at those kinds of games. She remembered thinking that it might have been the twins purposely letting her win. But she never asked that. She guessed from the look of dismay on their faces, they were as surprised as she was.  
  
The twins had left her awfully quickly, not wanting to keep going at a game that they were obviously not so good at. Alicia cleaned up after them, picking up what was left of forgotten decks of cards. It wasn't until then that she noticed a giggling Katie and Angelina standing a few feet behind her fireside armchair. What they were doing there, she did not know, and the two of them would not tell her. Apparently it was a big secret. After much coaxing the girls did tell her that the game was real. But it was always played with a bet. Loser treats the winner.  
  
Alicia suspected there was more to that, but neither of the girls had told her anything more. She had classes, and then had to work on Quidditch strategies, so she never got around going to the library.  
  
  
  
  
In the morning, she had been searching for her underclothes in her trunk, and found them in the corner. She did not know what possessed her to put the deck in he bag, but she was glad that she had.  
  
" So, how do we play it?" Harry asked.  
  
" I'm getting there." She said smiling broadly at Harry's excitement. " Well the game really is not that hard. First, the cards get distributed like this…" She started shuffling the cards, before dealing them face down to each of them, on the bed sheets. She got off the chair and sat on the bed. It would make the job a bit easier. "Each player has a hand. Twelve cards to each hand, and a draw pile." She picked her cards up.  
  
Harry decided he'd be a bit more theatrical – an impulse he had never experienced before. Wand in hand, a smooth confident move and a few muttered words was all the cards needed to levitate and form a fang in front of him. He grinned at Alicia.  
  
" I could have done that too." she said.  
  
" I'm sure you could have," he answered.   
  
Alicia noticed his words bore no sarcasm at all, he really meant it – perhaps that was the most special and lovable feature about Harry Potter, aside from his kind attitude. _He's genuine and true, _she thought looking at him. He was clearly waiting — politely, in his gentlemanly sort of mamanner — for her to proceed further with the explanation of the game's rules. He was not going to rush her.  
  
While teaching him how to play, she didn't miss out on the opportunity to check him out a bit more. Just staring at his face. She thought he looked cute. _No, cute would certainly not apply. Handsome perhaps, good-looking… Striking,_ she thought. He pushed his slipping glasses back up his nose bridge — a very recurrent act that she was used to by now.   
  
" I wonder what he looks like without his glasses…"  
  
Harry reacted to her thought as if he had heard it. He gingerly took them off with his left hand, while passing the right one through his uncontrollable hair. He looked up from the cards he was looking at, trying to comprehend the rules she had just told him about, and straight into her eyes. Alicia knew he could not read minds. Last time she had blurted something out. This times she was sure she had not. This made her think that they think alike – a great plus in her mind when she considered her life with Harry. _You're thinking too far ahead,_ told her a part of her mind. She hated being shot down by her own mind.  
  
Then Harry spoke. " Like this?"  
  
Alicia's mouth opened slightly. She could not believe that she had made the same mistake again. _Unless Harry was a complete idiot or totally oblivious, he couldn't miss the fact that she was… well truly interested in him.   
  
What is it with me,_ she thought, while attempting to hide her shock and embarrassment with a smile. _Cool down Alicia. Cool down and try to casually find your way out of this whole mess. _It was never a good thing to start to refer to oneself in the third person. It meant that you really were nervous beyond belief.   
  
" Yeah," she said, a bit more confident then intended.  
  
" Hum… Why?" He asked.  
  
_Oblivious!, _her mind told her. In a way it was better. It meant that Harry was not stupid. Simply clueless.   
  
" Because…" Her mind raced to find an answer – a plausible one. It did not take long enough to make Harry suspect that Alicia, in any way, was trying to hide something. " Just curious, I suppose. We're all so used to seeing you with glasses…And Hermione with bushy hair," she added Hermione quickly, as she explained with a grin. There was a slight pause.  
  
" Well? How do I look?" Harry asked cautiously.  
  
Alicia laughed. _Harry, worrying about his looks?_ It seemed quite out of character to her. But then, she had only known Harry on this more personal level for a short period of time — even though she had been watching him from afar quite a while, that was hardly enough time to know anything about someone. _In a way, I guess everybody worries about _their_ looks…" _she thought.  
  
Alicia, realising she had been invited to look at Harry without the fear of him catching onto her feelings, made full use of that time to check him out. This time her observations were much more detailed.  
  
" Does it really matter?" she said, not wanting to make her obvious interest even more obvious. She quickly added, noticing his slightly disappointed look, " Harry, I could go through every single synonym of _gorgeous_ to qualify you right now, but, that would take too long and it would still be not enough to do you justice…"  
  
There was a pause. Then, they both laughed uncontrollably.  
  
When they finally calmed themselves down a bit, Alicia suggested, " How about we both get back to the game?"

~o0o~

Hermione looked at the cat and furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. Fingers on her wand, Hermione took a step forward. Her finger squeezed the wand repeatedly, until she actually did it too hard and it hurt. The moment of concentration lost, Hermione tended to her palm.  
  
" Try to relax Ms. Granger. The harder you try to concentrate on something, the more the mind usually wonders onto other things." Advised the headmaster seating on the comfortable looking chair, observing her. " It will come to you. This is not the hard part." He tried to assure her. Getting her to relax was a big part of the spell. She had to concentrate. He had not told her yet, but the hard part was the after effects of the spell and learning to control the emotions of the person.  
  
Hermione nodded. She commanded herself to relax – ending up looking more strained then before.  
  
She did not see or hear it, but the headmaster let out a soft sigh. He knew old habits were hard to kick, but it could be very frustrating to see students making the same sort of mistake over and over again. Usually the professor was not one to think to change his students' personalities. They were all unique and special. But it was hard sometimes to not think that some of them perhaps needed a bit of adjustment in their personalities.  
  
Hermione recited the long spell, with confidence in her mind. She knew the words by heart – it was just getting it to work that was the problem. She pointed her wand at the cat and used the motion that the professor had shown her. Three small counter clockwise motions, before the small flick.  
  
Taking a firmer stand, she whispered, " Ento domino, la cruscibo, penal goodh mai erbid ibix, Noxy paramntum - clas gah!"  
  
At first nothing happened, but then, much to the surprise of headmaster, a pink glow encapsulated her entire being. The wand dropped from her hand, and she started to shake uncontrollably, hovering in the air about a foot. The professor jumped from his seat to look at her face.  
  
There were tears rolling from her eyes, which had turned completely in a shade of magenta…  
  


  
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**FEEDBACK**  
  
I've not done this is a while so I thought, this would be the best time to do it. Skip it, if you don't want to read it.I don't have time to do more than this. So please wait till the next chapter for the rest of the chapters.  
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After Chapter 42:**  
  
Calistal  
**Here is the next one. This time it had action! I hope!! :D  
  
**Nell  
**My 48 hours are actually a lot longer. ^_^;; Real life is a bitch! I can't wish it to get better!  
  
**Tellmemore  
**Hermione like Harry? I will do a JK: Do you think they are suited? (before release of GOF) I won't say if she likes him or Loves him. This fic is so much about Hermione it's a wander if there I did not think up the rest of the plot because of Hermione's lovelife.   
  
**Samantha  
**Thakns  
  
**Yawer  
**I think the first review somehow, was not my chapter. LoL. Thnaks for the second review. I left it in there, but now that I see it again, I will delete it. :)  
  
**Tom  
**hehe… I know. I am very sorry again. For the lateness. But REAL LIFE JUST SUCKS! UGGG… I wish I could stay home and just read fanfics! The H/Hermione variety only… with the occasional Harry/Girl NC17 fic. :D  
  
**HarryNZ  
**Do you have a paid account? How do manage to be so many people's first review?  
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**Before Chapter 42 was released:**  
  
**MarsIsBrightTonight**  
I sent you message.  
  
**Sar-Bear!!!!!! **  
Your're reading this! OMG! Thank you! Thanks a million! WoW!  
  
**QuidditchChampion **  
It sounds like H/A, R/Hr, but it's not. It's platonic H/Hermione. Only in the last chapter of the whole series ill you find out who Harry, Hermione, Ron, Alicia, Cho, Fleur, Charlie, Percy… end up with. Unless they are dead.  
  
**tellmemore **  
It's up! Thanks for the second review too.  
  
**Mundungus Fletcher**  
_Don't repeat yourself like that. It's annoying...  
_I did not mean to. It was something I must have had left in there after the rewrite.  
  
_It doesn't feel right to read a single sentence with so many repeats of the word 'eyes'. You should use the same nouns only once, at most twice in a sentence. Like 'Bright light burned through her eyelids, bringing instant, excrutiating pain' or something like that.  
_Me and a friend of mine are going to working on a better version of the story in the time that I have free, because we want the story to be more clear. He is a native speaker, so the help would be invaluable. We will fix the mistakes then.  
  
_How old was he when he became headmaster?  
_I don't have the notes of those pages anymore. But let me try to make that thing clear to you. Basically what had happened was that, the head master was forced to agree to a reason. He had to choose himself in the school or muggleborns in school. At the time muggles and their war was frowned upon. So they thought Dumbledore, who was a very very pureblood family's product would be going along with the sentiment of the time. So they asked him to be the headmaster, thinking he would get rid of the muggleborn the moment he was instated. But the plan backfired, because they did not ask which way dumbledore wanted thing. Their fault was that they assumed too mcuh.  
  
_Dumbledore says in the second book that very few people knew that Tom Riddle and Voldemort were the same. If there was a book that mentions it, I have trouble believing it would be so._  
Okay this takes place in morocco. I assumed that once Dumbledore found out it was TomRiddle that was Voldemort, I assumed a few others did too. I also assumed that a few of them, having lost family and friends, might have had told him in owls! "Congrat! You brought him up. You did not believe in hagrid's word. You're the reason we're in this mess now."  
  
_And PLEASE, why are you giving away what will happen? Fleur's madness, Hp and Alicia get started on their love-life, surprise us will you!_  
Those were never supposed to be in the chapter. I work like this. I keep writing. When I write something I don't like, I just press the "Enter" key a few times and store it. Just because I don't like it now, does not mean that three days from now, I won't find a way to use the idea. I also have to make sure, that I don't forget specifics of the chapters and what actions will be resulted from that. I had to do a rewrite because I did not think ahead. So that was my TO DO LIST. I kind of forgot to delete it.  
  
_I've been annoyed by this since you placed a li'l author's note about that Harold Parker and Harry Potter were the same, but Harry had simply travelled through time. Why'd you give something like that away? It was a good idea._  
Sometimes, I just don't think! Me and him might look to change that in the revision. By the don't get worried about the chapters being late. They won't be late because of revisions.   
  
**stormy_pegasus **  
I am truly sorry that I had made you people wait! Real life **SUCKS**!  
  
**ahhhhh **  
Hmm… I updated! But there was no need to use profanity.  
  
**FairyMaiden**  
I hope you liked Chapter 42.  
  
**Dark tenshi**  
I am writing this review on a person to person, so I will repeat it. Even if it looks like Hermione/Harry all the way, nothing is final until the chapter of book7 (my version). I like twists. Believe me you guys will be satisfied.  
  
**gred&forge **  
Sorry about the cliffies on the chapters. But if I don't have them once in a while, it won't nag you guys enough to some and see if I've updates or not… Very evil of me, but fanfiction is just as much as ego boosting for me, as it is about you enjoying it. Can you honestly tell me you did not enjoy the way, Hermione and Harry ended the cliffe. :D I did. I usually am a terrible critique of my own work, but the scene in the kitchen was my fav scene. *sigh*……… right after when Hermione was beating up Harry in Morocco. :D  
  
**CJH  
**I am feeling better. Thanks for the compliment. I love Harry/Hermione pairing too. I can't stand anything else, but that said, I've made Alicia into an older version of Hermione. So never rule Hermione out. Not until the epilogue of the third book. I hope it's (Harry/Alicia) is fun to read.  
  
**Kat**  
Keep the hope alive. I will do my best to keep you satisfied.  
  
**Surlyse  
**Thanks for the compliment. I'll continue. If I seriously consider giving up, there will be someone like Lauren, who is far more talented, who will take over the story. But real life has yet to make me do this. I just hope I don't have to do this.  
  
**Usagi Tenochi  
**Usagi... a question: Isn't that sailor moon's Jap name? Any way, back to the review: Chapter quickly? – Well, I used to do 1 chapter a week, and the chapters kept getting bigger and bigger. I will try to keep up, but it's hard to do so.  
  
**Nukerliu**  
  
1. I've never played Diablo. I've played a bit of Heroes of might and Magic III, I sucked. Love Starcraft & It's sequel though.  
2. StarTrek: Oh yes. I love the thing. Enterprise (new series) and Voyager are my fav. DS 9 was quite good. Love all the non linear time stuff. STNG was okay. Original one… My god! I can't believe I used to saty up past 12 in the living room of my house in Bangladesh, just to see it! Despite the harsh words I would hear in the morning.  
3. Dune: Read the first book and seen the movie. I have to read the next few books. I have them in e-book format, but I have no idea, which comes after which. I intend to read them all. I want to write an epic one day like that. Septanic saga is close to that.   
4. Temporal paradoxes fascinates me. I've come to one conclusion. In the HP world, they work by predetermined events. So nothing is changed, only repeated. That's why, everytime Harry tried to save Sirius, he letter's never made it. The theory that I'm using is going to be explained when I get more into that detail.  
  
**Baka  
**Here is the next chapter. I was not stalling. I just needed time to get things better and presentable more importantly believable.  
  
**Ayla Pascal  
**I love your stuff too. That's okay. Thanks for the comment.  
  
**Fenrir the Wolf  
**Thanks.  
  
**Vegeta  
**Thanks for the prodding.  
  
**Hello  
**I am better. I explained my absence up there.  
  
**Jade Gryffindor  
**I hope the chapter is to your liking.  
  
**Dragon lord:**  
I promised a few things to you, I might not have had made it to this chapter. They are coming. Though the time is uncertain now. The weapon that we talked about is going to be at the end of the year.  
  
**Ra878  
**I'm trying to :D  
  
**Laura aka Rose.**  
I'll send a message at HHSA and FAP that I've updated. The H/Hr is actually all platonic... for now. Don't worry. There is something very big for the H/Hr shippers, but there is also other ships. This year is the year of confusion. The next year is more of a "traditional" romances. But romance is there to add to the story. Not the main part. Though at times it might seem that way.  
  
**Pricilla Ryu  
**Thanks.  
  
**Phil182  
**Thanks. Here's some more  
  
**The Face of evil  
**You're Ron! :D Joking... Love the name.  
  
**Person  
**Thanks  
  
**Cool  
**Kiwi's rule, ay! Checkout HarryNZ if you can. Awesome. And MythX too. Just shows that New Zealand might be smaller than Australia, we pull more than our fair share.  
  
**Harry84  
**Thanks for the well wishes.  
  
**Phobiac  
**Thanks for pestering me.  
  
**you-know-who (or mabey you dont)**  
I'll go with I don't. Ron commentator. No matter what you read in this chapter, remember, it's not that easy. I'm not going to make his life easy. *evile smile* Err... Hufflepuffs are not that nice in the fic. They have a grudge against Harry.  
  
Evil Ron: No... that's something that I don't like. Yeh! You don't need intelligence to be a death eater. Crabbe and Goyle's fathers are.  
  
**Becky  
**I have a mailing list. I you signup on it, it'll be the best. Otherwise, I'll try to inform you.  
  
**Muggle  
**Thanks for the compliment. I hope this chapter is to your liking.  
  
**Animagiman  
**I know. It's very bad habit of mine. What can I say, Real life sucks. *pokes tongue at real life*. I'm not forgetting thing. They are going to be back soon. Harry / Alicia. I like Alicia. She's more important that anyone realises. She is going to be a character that stay in the fic till the very end.  
  
**Andros  
**Thanks for the compliment.  
  
**Danny  
**I want reviews, but not just getting reviews for the sake of htem. Tell me things that you like and don't like. It's very much for you guys that I'm writing. It's just hard to know if I'm doing things right, if you don't tell.  
  
**MythX  
**You reviewed. Thanks. Keep me posted on your fic.  
  
**Icee  
**I know what you mean. Well, I hope you like this chapter.  
  
**The Smooster  
**I know. I hope this chapter is much better. :D  
  
**Yoshiharu  
**Naughty boy! Harry does not think of Hermione like a sex object. He knows however she is a girl and she can dress up herself to look really nice. But he does not care either way. He likes her in any way she is. In a nightie. In a conservative clothing, or naked... er... He likes her. He does think she's okay looking. Hermione in this universe, is decent looking girl. She's not something like Alicia or Cho, but she has no problem with it. That's what makes her special. She sees her points and works at them.  
  
**Lionheart Eternal  
**I'm planning to do exactly that. ...er... maybe I should not have had said that.  
  
**Samantha**  
Oohhh.... He did not fix his eyes in the shower. Opps. I don't know what gave you that idea, but what I wanted to say was that there was a bright flash and Harry was ready. He had the smell of tarnish all over him, and the shower was not helping him.  
  
Thanks for the rest of the comments. Too often, Hermione's made into the damsel in distress. I personally like girls that have brains and are not afraid to use it.  
  
**Constantine1453**(I can't get this right, if my life depended on it)  
Neville and Pansy has not happened yet. Neville is afraid of her, but is forced to work with her, so he can't really have much of a choice but to do as Pansy wants. My spelling is never good and I have a horrible record of missing letters. I will try to as you say keep up the "phenomenal" work. :D  
  
**Ponder  
**Thanks  
  
**Phobiac  
**Thanks  
  
**Skeyeta  
**I'm glad I was able to do that.  
  
**Janelle  
**I hope you like this.  
  
**Sirius Potter  
**Pevees one is going to be there in the end, but not yet.  
  
**Mark Slade  
**Thanks  
  
**Ryoko Blue  
**You reviewed! Wow! Folks read her fic. It's NC-17, but it has a very good plot. If you just want the sex go to 14 and 21. I love those two chapters. *blush*  
  
**T. Cairpre  
**Sorry for the delay  
  
**A-Man  
**Thanks  
  
**Jade  
**No matter what happens. No matter! Never give up on H/A. Even if it looks H/H it might change. :D**  
**JKR says that friendship is Acceptance, loyalty and unconditional support. Hermione has shown this. Harry has to show unconditional support of to Hermione. His loyalty also wavers. Hermione's never did. Until Harry does do that, he's not worthy of her. That's my opinion. Ron is even worse. I won't go there.  
  
**Grega126  
**I hope you like it  
  
**Harry NZ  
**Thanks for the compliment. Your fics are my fav too. That reminds me I have to update my fav list.  
  
**Em  
**Thanks  
  
**Max  
**Thanks for all the nice comments. All the pushing to get the chapter out too.  
  
**Calistal  
**Thnaks for the comments  
  
**Felis Non Domesticus**  
I hope you like the way Hermione is in this chapter. Thanks for the complements. 

**Jeremie:** Thank you. You know for what.

**Digi Staley/Constantine1453/ATSP9:** Thanks a million for _trying_ to do the beta. I am sorry that time let none of do as much as you would have had liked.

**CJAnderson:** Thanks for those comments. That made me write better. 

**My being late:** Hmm… looks like my 48 hour has turned into 1 week! Sigh, not all of it is may fault. I know excuses!, but I promise this chapter makes up for it. :D 

**Slytherins: **I said what I said about Pansy, power and love about the Slytherins as a general statement. Please don't think I said it's a statement that ALL SLYHTHERINS ARE BAD. One of the few things that I've tried to be serious in this fic has been, house bashing. If you've read carefully, you'll know that I do think that *NOT* all Slytherins are bad. Harry is uncommonly kind to Slytherins in this fic. He realises that he would need a lot of people to be in his side when Voldemort comes. I've given Milicent a likeable persona. She is the daughter of an Auror – one that was good. From a family, that's been in the light side for ages. I have however said that good people in that house is rare – that does not mean they don't exist. Neville mainly said the bad things about Slytherins. He has not had good experience with them. 

**Review Please :D**

By the next chapter is very violent, and that is why, the rating has now been increased to "R" 


	44. Val De Mort part 1

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TAGS: I have switched to a fixed set of tags for making dialogues. This will make it easy to follow. Thank you to Jeremy for telling me about it!  
EXAMPLE: " Jack is dead," said Nathan. [Conversation in " " ]   
' _No! It can't be . . . Not him! Not this soon_.' [Thoughts in ' ' ]

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Lateness: Sorry, work pressures. Bad excuse, I know. ^_^;; 

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Bumping the story up: Err. . . It was not intentional. I meant to upload revised chapter of the very first chapter (which is up by the way), and I used the wrong form. It does happen quite a lot with me – I know! I only can write only after my girlfriend is sleep. Its usually 3–4 a.m. my time when I update and I am surprised that in my grogginess I do not wipe the chapters off accidentally. 

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Reviews: I loved them. Thanks. 

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Legacy: could you email me? I would love to talk to you – and, by the way, I love Parker's "**And Suddenly**". She, along with Chocchip and Jeremy are my fav authors. Then it's all a tie from there between Yumi, Brilliant, MythX, Ryoko, HarryNZ, Steve, Lady Emily, Granger, Cadey, Kaori, Koriander, Haven, Brian Yoon, Shades of Grey and more . . . 

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Birthday Wishes: Thank you all. 

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Magical Mischiefmaker: I know there are a lot of mistakes there. If you notice, I had said that, those three people tried to do the beta editing. Never said any of them actually got to finish it. (It is beta read now.) _I_ **_never_** _let anyone edit the comments._ Those are what I said. If they do not make sense to you, then it's my fault. I do not want the beta person to make it easier to follow, because it can somehow give the readers wrong impressions. I am trying to be more vigilant with my spelling and grammar, and it is improving. 

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Mundungus Fletcher: Who wrote the book? – David Dippet did. I did not know the full name of Dippet ( I am pretty sure that his full name came in the HP Card game – not in the books). So I made him David (Something I intend to fix later in a revision). Ali Pasha researched a few things for him for the book to be written, as he was David's prized student. 

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Repeating ideas: Sometimes it's intentional – Alicia recognising the twins separately. Sometimes it's unintentional – within a chapter, I mouth off the wrong the thing. Intentional ones that have been told before are done because sometimes I am really late with chapters. I am not sure, if people have not forgotten all about the intricate details. I'm still developing my writing style, and with the help of people I am getting better. I still however make mistakes.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––**  
Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling  
**(_part 1 of 3 in the Septanic Saga)_**  
_~Nappa_  
**–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 

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Chapter 44: Val de Mort (Valley of death)  
Japanese Proverb: `_Jealousy is the soul of love_' 

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RECAP: _Sirius and Remus went up north for a hiding place for Sirius. Madam Maxime and Hagrid went to look for giants. Alicia and Harry were playing a game that the twins introduced her to. Hermione for the first time managed to do the spell but her eyes turned magenta, and she was shivering on the floor. Voldemort had sent Wormtail to Siberia, but Wormtail had done something really big to please him first._

~o0o~ 

It took just over an hour before the last hand of the Mondock game was finished. In that time they had played a total of five games, and despite all her efforts to get her way, Alicia did not. 

The games rules were very simple. The objective of the game was to loose all the cards in your hand as fast as possible. After the opponent dropped a card, you had to match that card by one of two ways. Method one was to drop all the cards of the same value from either from one of the other suits or in some cases – the same one. It was possible because the game was played with two decks. Method two was the alternative one – drop a single card valued twice the one that had been dropped by the other player. The former method was the preferable one as it allowed not only for the player to release all the cards with the same value, but to also release one extra card as a bonus. If you could do neither, then you had to pick up two cards from the reserve of the cards – made from the rest of the deck and the cards that had been played. There was an element of luck was also in the game too, since cards sometimes exploded, reducing the number of cards a player had to get rid of. There were another five rules, but they were not too complicated to be a factor in the game. So, over all the rules were simple. Very simple. 

The first game had been a demo game, but Harry won it fair and square. Not only had he won it, but he had done it without knowing most of the rules for most of time during the game. Alicia told him, " This hand really should've been one of your wins..."

Her voice trailed off as, a new idea formed in her head. " In fact," she decided, " I think I will count it as one." Harry looked surprised, and Alicia could sense that he would be protesting – something that would have been true, had she not started to justify herself, before Harry could even open his mouth. " You played well and you won," she said, " You didn't even know most of the rules. Playing as good as you did, deserves that. It'd not be fair otherwise." 

Harry though did not see it that way. ' _Fluke is what that was_,' he thought, '_She's just being kind…'. _Harry voiced it soon after too. " Not really. It's a fluke. That's what that was." 

Alicia wanted Harry to win, and she would have been cheating to make sure that Harry did indeed win. That was her plan. The problem with Harry thinking that it was a fluke was that it implied, Harry had not played well. Harry not playing well was not true. He had played well. Alicia had not cheated to let him win. Not yet anyway. It would not have had been cheating since she considered the game of Mondock to be a cover for the real game – one which involved her heart and his. If she had thought of the Mondock game as something that was competitive, she would not have had entertained the thought of cheating – to win or loose. Cheating was something that was very un–Gryffindor like. Alicia truly believed in the old saying, ' _All's fair in love and war.' _Though she did not want to think that her feelings for Harry were so deep – the quote still applied. The demo game had been to teach Harry of a few intricacies of the game. Harry's win was to his credit after all. Harry did not look convinced at all. Seeing his unconvinced face, she said, " Don't worry. The game's not finished yet – still another four to go and you what?"

Harry shook his head. 

" I'll pulverise you," she laughed that last part out.

Harry laughed too, and soon, his face lost some of the tightness from not knowing how to behave around her. It left him with a slight grin on his face. " If you say so, but I still think it's too easy.". Harry was getting cocky. 

Alicia looked up at that comment, and saw his little grin. ' _He's challenging me!_' she thought incredulously. She was tempted to really play like it was a real game, but she thought otherwise in the last moment. " Just for that, you'll get no mercy!"

Though Alicia said it, she was not going to follow through it. Her plan was to make Harry win, and then treat him with something nice – she was going to stick to it. Alicia did not like playing underhanded, but Katie, the more experienced girl of dating, told her that they need to take things slow. '_ A relationship this early is heading for doom_' – Katie's exact words. If taking things slow meant that she had to play underhanded to get closer to Harry, she was willing to do that. 

Cheating in the game to loose was not that hard. One could hold the cards just right so that they did not explode. They knew how to hold the cards because they learn in their sixth year charms class, when they have to make their own cards – perhaps the single most reason that most older students stop playing the game as it held no challenge for them. Holding cards back or picking up extra cards were also other ways to cheat. Alicia went the whole nine yards – just short of taking off her clothes in an effort to distract him. It might have been jesting, what she said to Harry about pulverising him, but to her semi–horror it turned out to be true. Alicia won the next two games.

A shocked Alicia was almost sure that Harry had been cheating too. The expression of frustration and a little perspiration on his forehead told her otherwise. ' _Besides_,' she reasoned, ' _he wouldn't cheat_.' 

Harry might been slightly frustrated at loosing those two games, but it was worse for her. One would think that Harry trying to win and her trying to loose, would yield in what they both wanted. All the cheating had done no good, as both times she got good cards, and Harry the weak ones. What was really worse was that Alicia started to think for a while that Harry concentrating on his own cards, had somehow made her cards explode. ' _That's really reaching for it now!_' She did the only things could at that stage. Alicia stated to blame it on fate. ' _Fate don't like me_', she decided, ' _Not at all! Why else would it be picking on me. I'm only trying to do something nice for a bloke I like._' 

However she stopped cursing in the fourth game. Harry got some good cards and he had played well. Fighting back an almost inevitable loss and winning narrowly by 2 points.

Just before the deciding game, Alicia thought of stopping the cheating. If had not worked so far, so she really had nothing to loose. But then she decided in the last moment that she would cheat. She liked Harry too much to risk not letting him win. Harry was excited to play it and Alicia hoped she had decided to the right thing.

Alicia dropped her last card. Irony of Irony, it was an ace of hearts.

Alicia had won the hand. Harry lost. She felt terrible. This was not at all what winning should have been like. There was no joy, there was no euphoria. There was no adrenaline rush. There was no smile on her face. She slowly looked up towards Harry, but could not lift her face any further than his hand. There was seventeen cards left there. Harry had lost by seventeen points!

Her plan had gone terribly wrong. Not only had he lost, but also Alicia had dealt him a severe blow to his ego. Alicia did not have the nerve to look at his face. Alicia had not known, but the set of cards and that Harry had received was called the ' Dead Man's Hand'. It was a unique combination of cards that was so bad, the twins had commented to themselves that, ' _Merlin himself could not cheat his way out to win'. _

Neither Harry nor Alicia knew the name, but they knew how bad it was.

Harry was also looking at his hands. He still could not believe how many cards he had left. It had been a humiliating loss. He had lost chess games to Ron, but had always managed to put up a good fight. Ron in the end was too good in chess so the loss was inevitable. Games never had been close, but neither had they ever been humiliating. Harry had lost to Hermione in exploding snaps (normal version), but it had never been humiliating. He had lost in Quidditch to the Hufflepuffs, but that had not been humiliating. He had lost to Dudley in _all_ games – intentionally, but never before making the game close. His face was burning from the flush it had now. It took a few seconds for Harry to get up the nerve to Alicia's face.

The way she was looking at his hand, Harry could only say that she was horrified. Her eyes were filled with disbelief and astonishment – not the good kind. The conclusion he reached was something that anyone in his place might have had. '_ She thinks I'm Pathetic!' _

Harry had insecurities about himself on a lot of things. People not loving him, not caring about him, being thrown out of the magical world and now what girls – specifically Alicia thought of him. He had resigned himself to being just one of her friends, but he did not want to be seen as pathetic by her. When his mind tried to tell him to cheer up and remind him she is a friend and would never think of him in that way just because of a game, another part of his mind started to poison his thoughts. ' _She does not want you to treat her then – she does not think you're worthy.'_

It was hard for him to fight back against that. Finally gathering up a bit of his courage he said, " It was fun." 

" It was." Alicia said rather blandly. 

Her bland response did nothing to quell his worries. It only inflamed them. _'_ _See, I told you so. I told you. She does not think you're anything but a pitiful example of a person.'_

Whatever Alicia was thinking, it was not that. She was astonished that Harry had lost, but she blamed it on herself partially. Though she would not admit it. _' Boys! They just don't know what's good for them! Why didn't he just win? All he had to do was win. No! It's so . . . annoying. He had to loose. Damn it! I'm so . . . I know, I'll be taking it out in the morning.'_

Harry grew tired of her silence and finally he put a finish to it. " By the look of your face, you don't seem too happy to win – I guess you don't want a treat from me – " 

Alicia Interrupted before Harry could get on a pity binge. " No. That's not it." It had startled her that Harry could see how deeply angry she was that he had lost. The fact that Harry had not only seen it but also think that she did not want to receive a treat from him was alarming to her. Harry had not come of as an insecure person in the, admittedly short, time that she had known him closely. Harry was famous and well respected. He seemed confident in his abilities and sure of what people around him were like. Not at all like the person that he was coming off as right now. Insecure and human. It did not make her loose interest in Harry in the least bit. It made it more possible that it was possible to have a relationship with him. " I was just sad that I_ . . ._" Alicia stopped herself. She almost told him that she wanted to loose, before coming to her senses. " I mean, the game is over, and I just remembered that I'm supposed to be helping Katie with her homework_ . . . _I'm sorry, I can't give you a rematch." 

Harry looked visibly relieved. " Oh! That's okay. You can go and help here, I can keep myself busy."

" You sure." Alicia had come up with the excuse on the spot. She wanted to give him a good reason, but she had not thought that it would mean her having to leave him prematurely. " I'm sure, she wouldn't mind me being a bit more late_ . . ._"

" No. It's fine," said Harry, " Could you leave the cards though? – just in case I need something to occupy me."

" Sure_ . . ._" 

Alicia started to gather the cards, as Harry watched her do it. He suddenly remembered he did not know what to treat her with or when to do it. " I forgot to ask – What do you want as your treat?" She smiled at him and went back to packing the cards. She did not answer him. Harry asked tentatively, " Are you going to tell me?", after a few moments of silence. 

Alicia had almost finished packing them for Harry.

Alicia had smiled for a reason, when Harry got impatient. It had occurred to her that she could use the turn of events to her advantage. She could make him find out more about her from her friends. Alicia's aunt always told her that, _' Men need to work at something if they are to appreciate it when they do get it. If they do not then the house gets filled up with junk – things that were loved only once.'_

Katie told her that Harry might have been interested in her, but if she came forward too soon, she would regret it. They would break up in a week or even before they really were a couple. " That," she said, " you'll have to figure out."

Harry was opening his mouth to ask, exactly how he was going to do that, when she answered. " Ask my friends. Surprise is one of the rules of the game." 

" It's not a rule." Harry challenged her. He would not have had minded finding out about her, but he did not think it was fare that Alicia was making up rules. She had said that there were only eight rules. " You told me there were eight rules and I remember all of them. There's nothing about having to surprise you with the treat."

__

' Boys! They never know what's good for them! Asking questions and challenging things when they just should do as they are told – don't they know it's better that way.' 

" Well, there's now." She stuck out her tongue at him. " I like surprises – so when you play that game with me, you play with rule ` **_No. 9._** The treat must be a surprise'." 

" Who do I ask then?"

" Katie, Angelina, the twins and Oliver . . ." She looked at her watch again. " By Merlin. I'm really late. I've got to go." She said quickly getting up from Harry's bed and landing on the floor.

Then it her here. The biggest dilemma of the year. ' _Should I kiss him on the cheek, shake hands and leave, or just leave?' _

~o0o~ 

Somewhere else in the castle, Katie Bell and Angelina were talking amongst themselves out things when the topic changed to something that was really something Katie would rather not talk about. Boys. More correctly_ . . . _Harry Potter. It had started in the most innocents of ways. With Angelina asking, " So is it true about Harry and Alicia?"

Maybe, not so innocent ways. 

Katie had stopped dead in her track. The question was certainly one that Katie expected to hear, but not this soon. She expected them to come in a few months when she was sure that Alicia would be so obvious that people would have to ask the question. No one was going to be rude enough to ask her Alicia directly, but Katie was a fine person to ask.

" No!" Her voice was unusually high. " Whatever gave you that idea?"

Angelina had a smile on her face that made Katie think that Alicia was not as careful with her displays of interest in Harry as she had asked her to be. It was only made worse, since Angelina said, " Thank. That's the confirmation I was looking for."

Katie tried in vain to protest. " I said nothing like that. They're not going out."

" Who said anything about going out? I was talking about their new 'relationship'. You know the captain and co–captain one."

Katie knew Angelina well, and she knew **_that_** was not was what she was thinking. But she sighed in relief. Angelina was not a gossip. She would not say what she found out to anyone else. Angelina liked to find out things about people if they interested her, but she just kept it all to herself. " You're not telling anyone?" Katie asked, just to be sure.

Angelina shook her head to say no.

" Good."

" Now," Angelina said, " you're telling me all you know."

Katie groaned.

~o0o~ 

Back in the hospital wing, Alicia was tearing up about what to do. Though the decision it self took only a fraction of a second, it seemed like an eternity to her. She had decided to do what came naturally – _' If it was a kiss on the cheek, then so be it. Girls did that to boys they were friends with all the time,'_ she reasoned. 

" I'll come by later to check on you – maybe tonight. If I can't tonight, then tomorrow morning – for our jogging. Don't do any thing to give Madam Pomfrey a reason to keep you in. I'd hate to be the only one doing it again."

" I won't."

She was leaning in close slightly to kiss him, but then... 

****

BAM! 

The booming noise of the door hitting the wall made Harry jump from where he was. Harry had not noticed that Alicia was about to lean in – so there would be no awkwardness because of a failed shot at a kiss. However Alicia was still flushed from what she had tried to do. She was surprised that Harry had reacted so violently to the loud noise, but she realised the reason behind it. 

The violent reaction to the noise was Harry jumping back from where he was and quick as one could possible do it, retrieve and point his wand at the direction of the `threat'. Alicia remembered that, Harry was supposed to have had generated a loud booming noise when he had apparated with the Nundu. It made sense to her that Harry had associated loud noise like that with that incident. _' Just because he had survived it, doesn't mean that He's over the trauma,' _is that she thought. 

Alicia was a little upset that she would not get to kiss Harry – _'_ _on the cheek,' _reminded a part of her brain. She turned to look at the cause of the disturbance and swore to herself that if they did not have a good reason, then they would be getting a detention. _' If they're students.'_

Shat she saw was, Pansy Parkinson wrapped in several lengths of bandages covering almost the entire length of her body. There were traces of burnt clothing where the bandaging was lighter or did not cover her entirely. There were some marks one her face too, but they seemed to be recovering very fast. " Get away from me, Freak!" She shrieked, backing away from the door and someone that she obviously considered a _'_ _Freak'._

Harry could not see the person at the door, because the doorframe was in the way and Alicia was no different. " I am sorry _. . ._" the both heard a voice say from the other side of the door.

Both Harry and Alicia recognised the voice. Neville. It was Neville Longbottom.

Alicia and Harry looked at each other and a knowing look passed between them. They knew what had happened. Neville had one of his _' moments'_ and this time, Pansy was the victim. Both could not help but feel sorry for her. " Ugh_ . . ._ Stay the hell away from me." She yelled again, backing further away – it looked like she did it because Neville had advance to her. 

Neville came into proper view. He was looking really distressed and his face was etched with concern and regret. " I really am sorry." He sounded as concerned and regretful as he looked, " How was I supposed to know–" 

Pansy interrupted, taking out her wand and pointed it at Neville. " No . . . No . . . Stay away." She was shaking head to toe. The grip on her wand was very loose and from the distance, Alicia could still see it. She was obviously shaken and could not even hold the wand properly in her distress. Harry doubted if she would be able to use the curse at all. " I'll curse your miserable Gryffindor butt, if you come close. I swear it. . ." She sounded tough, but she was clearly not certain that she could do a simple switching charm at that moment. " . . . just get away from me, you freak."

Before Alicia could interfere, Neville took a forward step. Pansy did not curse him though – she was too busy running from him for dear life. In her panic stricken dash for her life, Pansy had dropped her wand. Neville quickly picked up the wand and started to run towards her direction, when he tripped over his own feet – landing face first on the floor with a loud smack. 

Both Harry and Alicia cringed at the crunching noise. Harry started to remove the blanket around his leg, when Alicia put her hand on his leg to make him stop moving. " I'll do this. You stay still. Remember, nothing to give Madam Pomfrey an excuse." 

Alicia did not wait for Harry's answer. She gave him a glare just to make sure he did follow her instruction, before heading in Neville's direction. She helped Neville up to one of the beds, before going off to fetch Madam Pomfrey for the second time that day. 

Madam Pomfrey looked as exasperated with Neville as she had been with Harry. After taking the Pansy's wand from Neville, Alicia left, saying she would return it to her. The diagnosis for Neville was good and he would not even have to stay the night. After Madam Pomfrey was gone, Neville made it over to Harry's bed, and sat down. " Hullo." He whispered to Harry. 

" Why are you whispering?" Harry didn't know why, but he whispered his question too. Harry eally meant to ask him how good he was feeling, but he did not get to it since Neville's whispering had managed to get his attention more. 

Neville thought for a second before answering. " I don't know. Seemed appropriate I guess." His voice sounded a bit out of sorts – _' less nasal,' _Harry thought, ' _Must be the potion that Madam Pomfrey gave him._ He thought. " What happened with Pansy?" 

Neville's whole face started to redden. " It really wasn't my fault. She kept telling me that I am useless and all that_ . . ._ I just got sick of it I guess. I mean, wouldn't you be? She was there,'cause she was no better. But No. That Slytherin girl just had too much pride to admit that. I wanted to show her I'm not that terrible_ . . ._ and_ . . ._ " Neville's voice trailed off. 

" And?" Harry prompted. 

" I did the spell." 

Harry was puzzled. Why would it have been embarrassing it he had managed to do the spell right. " What's wrong with that?" 

" Nothing – If I hadn't been wishing for a Veleron instead of a duck from the desk_ . . ._ you know so it would really scare her." 

Harry gasped. " You didn't? Tell me you didn't?"

Neville nodded. " It did happen. I didn't even do the spell right and it still happened. It was a itty bitty thing, but boy did it have a belly full of fire." There was a bit of pride in Neville's voice as he described the _'accidental'_ Veleron. Neville, suddenly did not seem all that regretful as he once appeared to be. He did not look like he had done anything that he was sorry for. If Harry did not know Neville better, he would have had said that Neville was enjoying what had happened. But Harry did know Neville better, and his face, like Harry had thought, did go back to the regretful one. " She was pushing my buttons alright, but I didn't mean for her to get hurt. I'm just scared to think about it – but I'm glad I'm no good in transfiguration! If the Veleron had been a bigger one or_ . . ._ even one that was permanent, I'm sure, she'd be dead now_ . . ._ and me in Azkaban." 

Harry's thoughts flew from what had happened to Pansy and Neville, to what had happened to him. He thought it was really unfair that Madam Pomfrey let a burn victim out, but kept him in with a small leg injury. 

Before he could think to go and confront Madam Pomfrey about it, she came into the room. She saw Harry and glared at him All thoughts that Harry had of leaving the hospital wing jumped straight out of the window. 

" What happened with you? Why're you here?"

Harry told him what had happened after Pansy and Neville had seen Harry and Hermione in the kitchen. Neville, like Ron, had laughed at his misfortune – though he stopped as soon as he saw that Harry really did not think it was funny. It was then that Neville saw that Madam Pomfrey had been glaring at him for making so much noise. He left hurriedly as he had no intention of staying the night there. There were less painful things he could do – like take a bath in acid mash pits of Galapagos Island.

~o0o~ 

Albus Dumbledore was rarely ever surprised. He expected Voldemort to comeback. He expected the board of governors to make him the replacement for Professor Dippet. He had expected –as terrible as it was – for the Potter's to die. He had expected one of their friends to betray them. He knew of Harry's destiny starting from Morocco. He had assumed that somehow Harry was going to escape the killing of his parents, but he had never thought it would be because of a backfired killing curse. His life had been full of surprises ever since Harry came to Hogwarts, but it always involved Harry, except that one time he had come across that room filled with wonderful chamber pots. 

He had not expected Hermione to surprise him on her own. She had pronounced one of the words of the spell wrong and he was going to correct her. It was then, to his amazement, he saw that Hermione had made the spell work it did work.

The only conclusion he could come to was one that he did not want to. Hermione had made the spell work out of sheer will power. It was not unheard of amongst the older wizards and witches who were at the end of their tenor on this world, but never on a pupil this young. If it were Harry, he would have been amused and very possibly – quite delighted. But it was Hermione. 

Hermione was a brilliant witch in her own right. Smart and resourceful. But she was a muggleborn. That fact had implications that he did not like to think. Voldemort, Professor Dumbledore knew that gathering his powers. He did not like the fact that Hermione was a muggleborn with that kind of power because it validated his theory that muggleborns were getting powerful. Because he knew the Voldemort would then reduce the muggleborns to slaves in his new world, to occasionally use to strengthen pureblood family's wizarding blood.

He made a note to keep an eye on Hermione – she was looking to be another bright light in the coming days of dark._ ' Hopefully she is the exception amongst the muggleborns,'_ he thought. 

Professor Dumbledore's immediate problem however was that Hermione's spell had worked too well. The glow that had encapsulated her had reacted rather violently to him, when he tried to touch her. Sending a burst of pink energy to dissuade him. Not only had she made the spell work, but also she was sustaining it. 

He could see the magic literally being sucked from her body to maintain it. If she lost enough of her magic, she would become comatose, and Professor Dumbledore knew that. He did the only thing he could. He transfigured the cat back into a chair. The silent tears running down Hermione's face were instantly replaced by a piercing scream agony. 

The pink glow faded and Hermione fell to the ground – shaking head to toe in pain. 

Making his way to the girl on the floor, he touched her shoulder to give some words of comfort to her. Hermione however did not react to his touch well. She scrambled from him muttering things that he could not quite understand. It looked to him that Hermione was in shock. She had gone further with the spell than he had realised. Hermione had felt the emotions inside the cat, and it had overwhelmed her mind. It was made even worse for Hermione, when he had transfigured the cat back into a chair while she still connected to the cat emotionally. To his horror, he realised that Hermione felt the life of the cat being replaced by a void.

Professor Dumbledore made no effort to tell Hermione what he was about to do – she would not have had understood anything. She was still on the floor cowering away from him. He cast a sleeping spell on her – Hermione's body welcomed the relief from the pain and the horror. 

It would take a little time for her to wake and she would need some energy-boosting potion, when she would wake. If she was like Harry, then it would take no more than a few hours. He wondered however, how he was going to explain Hermione's condition to Harry – without telling him everything. 

~o0o~ 

Katie sat on her bed, looking at her homework. It was a lot to take in. Seventh year was the hardest year. Even though seventh year students studied the same things they learn in their sixth, it's still hard. So hard, that is why they had to make the students go through it the second time. No one fails out of the sixth year, because they have their exams at the end of the seventh year. Some more brilliant students usually get involved in really silly things because they got bored with subjects in their seventh year. Fred and George were two people that Katie knew to fall into that category. Though they had started their antics in their very first year. They were good students none the less, and the amount of study that the twins seemed to be doing recently, made her suspect, they would be really a challenge for Alicia to beat.

Remembering Alicia she had a flash back of what she had told Angelina. It had been the edited version. Missing out what Harry's feelings that she thought were. Giving the vaguest of ideas that Alicia was interest in Harry.

Though not much, Katie was sure, Angelina was smart enough to figure out the rest.

" Need help with homework?" asked Alicia as she sat down on her best friends bed.

" Yes_ . . ._ but, maybe you should be thinking about what to say to Angelina comes around to ask you about you and Harry."

" She knows?!"

" Apparently," replied Katie, " but don't worry. She's just after the latest information. You know she's been sending owls to Oliver all summer long. I think she's got a thing for him and that's why she's interested in you all of a sudden."

" What does Oliver have to do with anything? I don't get it."

" Well, Oliver knows you and you know him. I think she's just making sure that there's nothing between you and Oliver."

" Oliver! Me and Oliver." Alicia started to laugh. " You mean the borderline jerk that's mad for Quidditch more than anything? Including the girl that he was supposed to go to the graduation ball with? That Oliver?"

Katie nodded. " If she wants that Quidditch mad jerk, she can have him. I'm not after him at all. Anyway, I think I'll go hide in Headgirl's room."

" I thought you didn't want to use the room – certainly after all that talk about how it makes the job of the student representative harder by isolating them from the rest of the school."

" Well, I need a hiding place. It's either that or headgirl's bathroom. As you can see, I have only one choice."

" You're going to see her at dinner you know_ . . ._ "

Alicia grumbled. " Did you have to remind me?"

" Just tell her, if she shows up_ . . ._ Besides, I need help. How do you make the Jeroror Sting Pie to treat a mild victim of Cruciatus curse victim?"

Alicia grumbled for a bit before she started to help Katie with her homework.

~o0o~

Harry had not had a chance to even start to get lonely, after Neville left, when Professor Dumbledore entered the hospital wing. At first, Harry thought that it was to see to him. But then he quickly realised it was not. It did not take a genius to figure out that he had come because of the person on the stretcher.

Harry did not know why, but his heart took a dive. He knew instinctively that it was either Ron or Hermione. He could not move. It felt as though, he was being held onto the bed by some force. He could not speak either. Something was stopping him.

The stretcher flew over to the bed adjacent to Harry's and disappeared, leaving Hermione on bed, slightly shaking.

" She's going to be alright. Just a bit shaken from the spell."

Harry found his voice again. Her looked so vulnerable that it broke Harry's heart to think that something had befallen her. " What spell?"

" ProTem," said Professor Dumbledore, as he started to look in the small cabinets next to the beds. " She lost a lot of energy trying to do the spell."

" Are you sure, she's going to be alright?"

" I am certain. You can talk to her when she is awake, which should be in a few hours. I'm afraid, I can't tell you anymore than that." He found what he was looking for and quickly opened the bottle of potion and poured the contents into her mouth. Hermione started to respond immediately, moaning out something very low.

As Harry looked on, Hermione's face got some of its colour back, making her looks less vulnerable and more like the strong-minded girl that Harry knew of.

" Mr. Potter, you might want to take a nap. She is technically sleeping."

It took a fraction of a second for Harry to realise what Professor Dumbledore was telling him to do by that piece of information. It was a hint and Harry knew to do what. He nodded and quickly tried to go to sleep. Professor Dumbledore left the room soon after.

There is an old saying. _' A watched pot never boils.' – _That was the case with Harry trying to go to sleep. The harder Harry tried, the more he could not. It was frustrating, but thank fully Ron came to visit very soon.

" Harry, have you seen Hermione?" He said, reaching his bed. " I've looked all over the castle, and even waited at the door to her last class – thinking she was getting special tutorial from Professor Dumbledore or something. I thought she might be here already, but I guess not_. . ._ "

" She's here." Harry said.

" Where?"

" The bed behind you."

Ron turned and his face looked so horrified, that Harry was sure that Ron was going to cry very soon. Hermione sick in bed was something that had happened in their second year and they had both felt her absence. It was worse now, as their friendship had grown in ways that no one had expected, and now the absence was felt even more so. " What_ . . ._ What_ . . ._ " He could not even finish the sentence.

" I don't know the detail, but Professor Dumbledore told that she did the ProTem spell and fainted. She's going to be up in a few hours and that's why he wouldn't say anything more to me."

" Wait ProTem? You mean that spell for Animagi?"

Harry nodded.

Ron's eyes flared a bit as they filled with anger. " You mean she got hurt, because she was learning something that would have had let you become a dragon?"

Harry did not think that was all that there was to the facts, but he still could not help but agree to where Ron was going. It was true that Hermione was learning the spell because then she would be able to assist him in achieving the dragon form. But Hermione chose to become an Animagi herself and Harry was learning the same this to assist her. But in the end of the day, he was the reason Hermione had decided to become the Animagi, and he knew it. It was because it would be helping in some way to help be safe from Voldemort. " Yes," Harry admitted, " just like I am doing the same for her."

Ron eye's soften in realisation. He did not like it that Hermione had drawn herself in to the mess to help Harry. Harry might've been their friend, but there was no reason to risk her life for him. Ron's protective side for the moment forgot that he, himself had risked his life for Harry or her. " Ohh. . ."

Harry did not ask for an apology. If it had been him in Ron's position, Harry was sure that he would have had reacted the same. Hermione was his friend too, but to Ron she was more. " Is that a chess game?" Harry asked, hoping that Ron would realise that he did not mind what Ron had started to say – _it was his fault that Hermione was sick_.

" Umm. . . I though we could play, but. . ." It looked like that Ron's mind was no longer on chess by sleeping Hermione.

" She's not going to be up for awhile, we might as well keep our hands busy."

Ron reluctantly came over to the bed, and started to arrange the pieces on the board. Harry had an ulterior motive for wanting to play the game. There were few things that made Harry very sleepy and one of them was playing chess. He was hoping that he would be able to get sleepy and then fall asleep. He would then try to Astral Project. 

~o0o~ 

The sun rose over the horizon a little behind the very large looking farmhouse, framing it in all its antiquated glory. It looked wonderful from the distance. Sirius certainly thought so as he gazed at the house. " Blimey! That's where I'm supposed to live?" he asked Remus, who was standing beside him. 

It was a big house. Farmhouses tended to be big, but so did large manors. Having grown up in a fairly large house due to his family's long pureblood heritage, Sirius was no stranger to large houses. This was not as big as what he had but then this was a house – not a mansion. It wasn't a showpiece house to show off the family fortunes. His best and oldest friend, James had been from a long line of Pureblood families too, but unlike Sirius's family, his ancestors had opted for more moderate and comfortable housing. The house seemed from this distance to be bigger than James's house, if only slightly. His memory was hazy of his schooldays, but he was sure that he was right. Sirius had loved James's house more than his own – it felt more like a home. _' If the rest of the house looked as homely as it does from here, it would certainly be a treat,'_ Sirius thought. 

Having been deprived of class for so long, he could only think that it was the most magnificent piece of architecture ever constructed. That was something that Remus knew he would think. 

" Like it?" Remus seemed pleased. " I'd think so. You've lived in rat infested holes long enough that I wouldn't be surprised a bit if you've forgotten what something with a bit of class is like. I know about you're hat_ . . ._ _dislike_ of manors, so I thought this place might be what you'd like." 

" Class? What class? See here, Remus," He joked, " I am not going to go back to school. It was terrible enough the first time." 

Remus laughed dryly. 

" Jokes aside, looks fine from here." Sirius sat down by a bush. " Sit down Remus. It's been a long time since we've had a chance to talk." He patted the ground next to him. 

" Okay," said Remus as he sat down. " What about shall we talk?" 

Sirius did not answer. Remus watched the fog that surrounded the house lift slightly up and away from the ground. It was early morning, and it was normal for the area to be like that. After a while Sirius suddenly broke the silence. " Do you remember James's birthday?" 

Remus looked uncertainly at Sirius. Why would he not? They always had a blast in those parties that they threw themselves in. " Of course – 3rd of August. I've gone to their graves every year on that day."

Sirius nodded, but did not say anything about that grave part. He still did not like to think of them as dead. He kept looking at the house in the distance. Remus thought Sirius was being very odd but he wrote it off by thinking it was just his time in the Azkaban. Several moments later, just as Remus was just relaxing back into watching the house, Sirius spoke again. " What about Lily's birthday?" 

Remus opened his mouth to answer but nothing came out. He was totally caught off guard by the question. Though Remus did not know where these questions were coming from, his friend's out–of–character behaviour was irritating him. Almost as if predicting Remus's inevitable questions, Sirius said, " Harry asked me same things today. He asked if I knew when Lily and James were born. I couldn't tell him about Lily." 

" Oh." The motive behind Sirius's questions suddenly dawned on Remus. Sirius felt bad that he did not know the answer. Remus tried to comfort him. " We really did not know her. She was more of James's friend, remember?" he said trying to comfort his old friend. 

Sirius turned and the look on his face was something that would stay on Remus's mind for a long time to come. He looked sadder than he had ever been before. 

Remus was right. It was almost as bad as the time he had realised he had given Lily and James to Voldemort thinking that they would be safer with Wormtail. It was something that was beyond what he felt when he was sad in the hellhole that was Azkaban. " You know, we claim to have had been her friends, but we_ . . ._ " He could not bear to say the next part. Then he gathered his wits around himself and said, " _ . . .w_e really didn't even know her. What kinds of friends were we?" 

" It's not your fault. We liked her only because James did. He always liked odd things and Lily was one odd girl. You remember the way she told James off for making a mess and making trouble for the elves and how she kept nagging all of us about the importance of studying." 

Sirius heaved a sigh. " Maybe I should have had told him how much in love they really were." 

Remus looked at Sirius. " Do you want me to? I'm going back tonight and you're going to be here for a while_ . . ._" 

Sirius nodded. 

" I'll do it as soon as I can." 

" What're you going to tell him?" 

Remus thought for a second. " Just about how much they were in love. About all the trouble they got into once they were involved. How much Lily really loved him – about how she did not really want either of us as god parents." 

Sirius laughed. " Maybe you should tell him the truth." 

" Which is?" 

" James was so much in love we both were jealous of her. I don't know about you, but I felt that way. I was closer to him, no offence." 

" None taken. You had the advantage of knowing him since birth." 

" Good. I remember how James got every time she was in the room, smiling like an idiot and turning on the charm without meaning to. James told me everything." Sirius's eyes had gone glassy, remembering fond old times. " I mean everything. Arithmancy test answers, to girls, to how to dress to impress, to girls, to well . . . more girls. I even made him laugh after his parents died but I never made him just happy by being in the same room. Lily did that. She did it, by just asking his help in Transfiguration. He would end up really frustrated, trying to teach her – but he'd still be happy." 

Remus nodded and said, " Well, I'll make sure to add the time that we almost pulled a prank on her after she started to date him."

Sirius looked a bit confused.

" You know the week after they really got together – he completely ignored us for a week_ . . . _walking around with her like a love sick puppy." 

" Did you have to remind me of that. Gah! It was worse for me. At night, he would be saying her name in his sleep. I remember that now. Thank Merlin you had good hearing. I mean, I'm sure James wouldn't have had been friends with us if we had gone through the prank to humiliate Lily. Thank Merlin, you hear telling him to pay attention to us. Why did you do it anyway?" 

Remus looked reluctant to answer. " You mean spy on them?" he asked, looking uncertain. 

" Yep." 

" I thought she was a succubus. I mean the sudden attention just didn't make sen–" 

Sirius started to laugh hard. " That was a great joke. Lily Evans_ . . ._ the plainest girl of all, a succubus. Hahhahhahaha_ . . ._ If I remember correctly, she only looked decent when she used that potion on her hair." 

" She wasn't ugly." Remus tried to defend her. 

" I never said she was, Remus. _Just plain_. I think they looked cute together, but aside from that she looked terrible ill suited everywhere – I still don't know why James liked her as much as he did." Something in Remus's face made Sirius think that maybe it was not a joke about what he said about Lily being a succubus. " You are serious! Aren't you?" 

" No. You're Sirius. I am s–e–r–i–o–u–s." Sirius frown at the jaoke. He did not like it when people made fun of his name like that. " I know how you felt when they were just friends. Now try to imagine how I felt. I had no one but you three and then Lily came along and suddenly she was such a big part of his life. I was afraid I was going to loose all of you guys. Remember James was the one who realised what I was and convinced you guys to become Animagi. I was afraid she would take him away and then I would lose you and that bastard, Wormtail too_ . . ._"

The mood was ruined by the mention of their traitorous friend, Wormtail. To change the mood, Sirius set about asking something more pleasant. " How many times did you tell James about Lily liking him?" 

" Too many. Sometimes I just wanted to beat him with a stick. I just couldn't see how he could miss her intentions. Or his own feelings." 

Sirius grinned as he said, " Maybe we should've had."

Remus quirked his eyebrow.

" That certainly would have had sped things up. Ali was there for three months and in that time he did with a few well–placed punches what we couldn't make happen for two years. For a Head Boy he certainly was clueless. You know, I still don't know why girls liked James." 

Remus laughed. It seemed Sirius's number one priority was always, girls. " Easy. He was dependable, sweet, and charming. Don't forget clueless too – I'm certain girls have a sweet spot for them."

" I'm all that!" Sirius claimed. 

Remus shook his head. " No_ . . ._ you're just clueless."

Sirius did not like that. 

" The fog's almost gone. We should head down," Remus said, changing the subject. 

Sirius nodded in agreement, and with a small pop, a large black dog replaced what used to be Sirius Black. However, before Remus could take a single step down the hill towards the house, Sirius turned back into a human. " You sure, they know about keeping me_ . . ._ well_ . . ._ you know_ . . ._"

"_ . . ._ Healthy?" Remus asked. 

" Yeah . . ."

" Sirius, I thought I made t clear already. They're not going to make you_ . . ._ sterile!." Sirius looked reassured, and changed into Snuffles. It was a big worry for him. Ever since Harry had mentioned the possibility, it had been one of his biggest worries." Let's go." 

Sirius changed back again. " How many girls again?" 

Remus gave an exasperated sigh. " Three and don't try any funny business with them. I told you, they are all young and the one that isn't, you're not going to go for." 

Sirius scowled at Remus for assuming that he would not like the girl. " Why is that?" There was a challenge in his voice. When it came to women, Sirius thought that he was pretty much indiscriminate.

" Simple. You said a while ago. Divorced women were all _'damaged goods'_. She is divorced." 

Sirius knew what that term meant to him – women who had been married and had a very bitter divorce, or had recently lost a husband. Both types of women were something that Sirius never touched. In his opinion, those women had something wrong in them. It stemmed mainly from the fact that he faulted his mother for leaving her husband. As he had said to Remus and rest of the gang lots of times, she did not work hard enough on their relationship. Sirius changed back into Snuffles. After two seconds down the heavily bush covered hill, Sirius turned back into his human form. " How old are the other two again?" 

" Sirius!" Remus pushed Sirius into the bushes. Changing between human and animal form was fine when they were in the bush, but since they had just made it into the visible side of the hill with very little bush. If the people in the house saw his transformation, then Remus knew he would have problems. 

" Okay. I can take a hint. Too young. –"

" That's not it. You can't keep doing this. You're bound to get us into trouble!"

Sirius did not pay any attention to what Remus had said and instead kept going about what he was talking about before. " Damn it! I guess the village brothel will have to do." 

" Sirius, if you keep making a nuisance of yourself like this, I won't take you to house." 

Sirius pouted. " Hmmfp! You know what? You're no better than McGonagall ever was." Then a mischievous smile appeared on Sirius's face. " I think you need to come with me to the village brothel together – you know get rid of that stick up your_ . . ._ " Sirius had let his voice trail off. 

" S–I–R–I–U–S!" Remus glared at him. 

" Okay. Okay. Transforming. It's not like I would go to those places anyway. Geez. All those diseases flying around_ . . ._ " Remus continued glaring. " _ . . ._ I don't have to go to brothel's for sex. Women dig me_ . . ._"

Snuffles made no more noise till they were at the bottom of the hill. At the door of the house, Remus knocked. It took a few moments for the door to open. It revealed a woman a small woman, compared to Remus, just over five feet. Sirius was sure that he knew the woman, but he was not sure of how.

~o0o~ 

Hagrid's journey to France, after hearing of a possible giant sighting from Harry, had been a full of obstacles. His enormous size had meant that he had to go to one of the bigger fireplaces available to travel using Floo network – making necessary to travel to Ministry of Magic headquarters in London. Hagrid's journey last time, right after the Triwizard tournament, had not been much different from the one this time: Unpleasant. 

People had found out about his mother, and treated him badly for what she did. Staring at him in the streets, Hagrid knew not how true the allegations against his mother were true. She had married a wizard. A human. Their eating object. It did not make sense. He knew it did not. Professor Dumbledore had comforted Hargid with that logic a lot of time. 

Hagrid had taken no notice of the behaviour toward him that time like this time again. To make his journey less filled with danger than the first, he had even bothered to remember the name of the operator of the international Floo network director. The person who oversaw the people as they departed. His politeness was looked downed up, making him wonder, if he had not would he have been more short tempered with him. 

Once he was in the Floo network, it was even worse. He hated the way his body felt when he was travelling. It was bad enough to it for a short time, but the journey to France was one long trip – with no short stops in between. How each time he had managed to keep his food down, was beyond him. 

In France he stuck out even more as an odd person. Not only as a tourist, but as an awfully tall fellow. He really did not like the attention he got as he walked from the Ministry of Magic there to the Beauxbatons Academy. It might have been very close to each other, but the attentions that he got travelling that part, he did not enjoy.

This time around time taken to convince Madam Maxime was awfully long compared to the first time. It took a long time to convince that his information from Harry about the possible existence about the Ukrainian giants was a plausible one and it would be a worthwhile trip on her part. In the end, he had managed to convince her that a head master of a prominent school would make a better spoke person to the new tribe then one who was a groundskeeper. It was harder this time around, as he had used the same logic the first time around that they had gone to look for them. 

Their trip together had been even worse than Hagrid's solo one. First one of the Horses got sick before they even got on the carriages – forcing the to use only three for it. Once the journey started, it was could only get worse. 

Weather had turned from a clear blue sky to that of sky to one that of growing dark clouds. Madam Maxime, assured Hagrid that the weather was normal that time of the year, and that it would soon dissipate. As Madam Maxime had said, the weather did become good over France but it was only over France. The bad weather was almost following them, gradually getting worse. It had started cooler temperature and then the cooler winds. The wind made the carriage shake more so then normal, making Hagrid feel slightly queasy. It felt worse than what it was like in the Floo network. After the wind eased of very slightly, came the thunder and lighting on the edge of the clouds in the distant horizon. It was then decided that they should land immediately, as there was not telling how long it would take the lightning to reach them. Deciding to settle down on the large area of desert land below them, they started to descend in a long circular–landing path. The land was so baron and dry that it looked like they had brought with them the first rain in centuries. 

The decision to land however came too late. 

Almost immediately after the deciding to land, the lead horse was struck by lighting, resulting in spectacular downward spiral to the ground. Since the lead horse kept the other two horses' wings' flapping in the correct rhythm, the other two lost their synchronous with each other. Their irregular wing flapping rhythm coupled with the unconscious animal in the front weighing them down in the front and loss of one third of the power that held up the carriages in the sky made the spiral so much more steeper. The land approaching so quickly through the window, Hagrid's mind was paralysing from fear. 

Madam Maxime moved to the port window behind her and opened the managed to handle the remaining horses with experience – making the same noises with her mouth as the lead horse as they plummeted. Through the window Hagrid could see the ground rushing to meet them – like Snape rushed to take points off the Gryffindor house. 

It was not long before they were safe again. The ordeal though, Hagrid believed, had considerably shortened his lifespan. She stood there as Hagrid did all that he could, blaming herself for the incidence. She was thoroughly angry that she had been overconfident. She could not help Hagrid out, because she was only their master – maintaining them was the job of the servants. 

Hagrid had learned much about them from the books in the library, hoping to get a chance to impress her. He never thought he would have the chance to, but under the circumstance, he wished the entire incident had not happened at all. Despite his best efforts, he could only revive the flying creature to a painful consciousness. The pain the creature was suffering was too much for Hagrid, and not wanting to have the creature live in that much agony, Madam Maxime did the only thing she could – performing the killing curse to free the creature from the constraints of the physical world. . . 

~o0o~ 

Harry was right. Playing the game of Chess was indeed making him very sleepy. Ron and Harry had both had Hermione in mind as they played. Constantly looking over at her bed when the other was late with his move. The occasional rise would have them both stop looking at the board and focus on her – hoping to get another rise out of her. The more they hoped that Hermione would wake soon, the longer it seem to take for each of the seconds to past.

" So what else happened after Alicia left you here?" Ron asked.

" We played a game of Mondock. Interesting game."

" Mondock? What is it?"

" You play with exploding snap cards. . ."

" Exploding snap cards. . . no thanks. That's a game for Hermione to like. Not me."

Harry kept explaining the game anyway. Ron might have been saying that he was not interested, but Harry knew that was not true. Ron would not want to talk about the games, but something to occupy his mind other than Hermione on the bed – looking so helpless – was a relief to him.

" Who on?" Ron asked after Harry had given the rules the game to Ron.

" Alicia did. Now, I've got to get her something. What do you think I should?"

" You asking me?"

" No. The chess board." Harry joked. " Of course you git!"

" I don't know . . . I think a girl would know better. I would want a Chudley Canon player's uniform, but I don't think Alicia would want that. Her friends are a good bet, or Hermione – she's a girl too."

They both looked at Hermione at this point, to make sure that she was okay.

" I know she's a girl. I'm going to ask her soon. . . I'm just worried that I won't get her something that she doesn't want."

" Alicia's nice. I don't think she's going to be really mean, if you get her the wrong thing. It's not like you're trying to date her. Then it'd matter what you get her – I think – I really can't say. As you know, I'm not that experienced in those matters. If all else fails you could go to Ben."

" Ben?"

" It's some guy that the twins keep going about. Apparently he knows all the best places to buy thing. Some are downright illegal. He might have something."

" I'm not getting her dark arts objects."

" I mean joke material – not dark art things. There are supposed to be lots of things that're banned in the UK."

" I'm not getting her anything illegal!"

" Your choice." Ron sighed, " You think how long till she waked up?"

" It hasn't been long. . . I don't know." 

It was after that comment that Madam Pomfrey came into the room and told them that they were making too much noise. Hermione needed her sleep and the boys had apparently been too noisy.

~o0o~ 

Winged horses were a traditional food item for the giants – thus they were also almost extinct. Hagrid suggested that they keep the meat of the horse that had died, as it would make it easy for them to deal with giants, if they offered such a rare treat. Between the two of them, there was enough other food to go without eating the horse themselves, but the when they took to the air again, Hagrid promised Madam Maxime a little bit of his cooking. Truth be told, she though Hagrid's rockcakes were too soft. It never had enough rocks for her liking, but she had never said anything to him. So, one could understand why she might not have thought that Hagrid cooking was the best thing in the world. But she was surprised two more days later, when they arrived almost at their destination and Hagrid took out a leg of the horse and started to roast it.

Madam Maxime looked be enjoying herself. She was eating a large piece of the horsemeat Hagrid had been roasting over the fire for quite a while now. She accepted the piece of meat with such elegance from him that his heart soared – it would not matter to Hagrid if the possible sighting of his mother was not true, nor the existence of the tribe of the giants hidden away. It would have all have been worth it, because this time around, the trip had yielded a more conversational Madam Maxime. 

Hagrid's mind went back to the way she took the large piece of meat from him. It was really not the way she took it, that was making his heart stop. Nor was it the way, she slowly started to devour it – relishing the taste. It pleased him a great deal when she had the expression of sheer bliss on her face as she ate the food. His heart stopped because, that what she did. He really had no explanation for it, but he knew he liked it. Anything and everything that she did had a way of stopping his heart. In all his fifty years of life, Hagrid had never met a woman that make her feel that way. That was for all purposes true, since when you are drunk the advances of the ugliest wench in the tavern started to stop the working of hear and mind. 

" Zis is wonderful, `agrid." Madam Maxime said from the opposite side of the fire. The fire was also accentuating her beauty by softening up the curves of her face. " I simply must `ave you tell me the recipe." 

" Olympe, No need ter flatter me. I have plenty more." 

" . . .Zis is not flattery. I never knew you could cook flying `orses so well." 

" It's not too hard. Easy as baking rockcakes . . . you just have ter get the meat ter soften – single malt whiskey works well ter soften the meat up." 

" I will remember to tell za to ze cook, vhen I get back." said Madam Maxime, helping herself to another large portion of the meat. 

Hagrid had been quick to get to work on the meat, while Madam Maxime had pitched the tents. Hagrid though about the history of the land they were in. Their first stop before Ukraine was India. Specifically the Gobi desert. 

The sand valley, deep in the Gobi desert of India, was infamous for lost people and lost treasures. Many times throughout the long history of India, Kings and Emperors, sent their heirs to look for the fabled treasures – in an effort to choose the worthiest heir of all. It was a fruitless task, which consumed the life of many throughout the history of the land. The search parities that went looking for the treasures were always equipped with the finest soldiers of the lands. Trained in the fighting ways that were as ancient and as reliable as sun rising with each new day. Sometimes artilleries were sent in too, but it never did any good. The survivors told tall tales about Rakhsases – Mythical Giant humanoid creatures, who feasted on humans. 

Of course, no commoner believed them – let alone the king. Why would they? Who, in their right mind, would accept that there were creatures well over 20 feet tall. Creatures who were of folklore and capable of ripping a human being into pieces with just one hand. They apparently had enough intelligence enough to make ambushes and draw the treasure hunters there. They too had magical devices that could protect them against any artillery. Not only do that, but some of the smaller ones had the ability to use sticks to send out green lights that would kill on impact. These things were well known by the Indian Magical community. They had ignored the magic because he had Creatures, who bathed little, giving them the smell of the earth itself – nothing repugnant, but still not something that human nose is not capable of liking. 

If they could smell them, why not stay away from them. That was the logic that made the people not believe them. But it was not the only one. If such creatures were to exist, then why do they not attack the kingdom and use it's people as food. They certainly were not stupid. Even if they were just beasts – they reminded the teller of the tall tales that even beasts had enough knowledge to seek out its prey. 

If the survivors were lucky, then the King would banish them for cowardice. But most of the time, beheading was ordered. They would be in a very lousy mood after loosing an heir. 

As time went on, kings died and new ones made. Kingdoms would fall; another greater one would be built. But in all the time, sand valley came to be known as the valley of death. People would disappear and never comeback. There was never the shortage of people. One king hearing the failure of another would send in his own heirs to go look for the treasures – to satisfy their greed and thirst to out do each other. This often blinded them to the possibility that their own heir(s) could suffer the same fate. 

Those were the ancient times. 

The modern India was a different story, with a new twist. 

Nomads of the desert often said that they had encountered these beasts and had taken their precious ones from them. Except for a few strange cases, it was always a case of the survivor wanting to live a happy life without the burden of caring for others. They were usually hanged. The strange unexplained cases tended to have the survivor go mad and tell tales of Rakhsases. It would do them no good. They would forever be locked away in the prisons.

~o0o~ 

__

I am releasing this chapter before it's finished. I'll be working overnight on the action things. Please don't be too upset with me. 

****

Author's Note:  
Sorry about my punctuality. What can I say? Nothing really good. Anyway, please tell me if you think I've improved or now. :) 


	45. Val De Mort part 2 Uncomfortable

**Massive Thanks to: **Jeremie for the beta – well actually he did the beta and then I had to edit it, and then I posted it after two sets of rewrites. 

**H/Hr or H/A:** First of all - It's important to remember that this fic is going to span Harry's last three years of school. So until the very end, where I write "the end" – nothing is final. Harry, Hermione, Alicia will all date other people, make mistakes and most importantly learn. The exact ending pair is in the epilogue of the series – no use trying to guess the couples. 

If I ever say Harry/Hermione or Harry/Alicia – beware, I might just be trying to please you. This fic is complex – and will have relationships of various nature and various seriousness with people.

I used H/Hr as a keyword and in the sorting of the fic – because there is a fairly large amount of H/Hr in it. But as you can already see that aside from the little H/Hr – there's a lot of Harry/Alicia happening. Ron/Hermione is there too. I don't like to even hint as to how it'll end - but I promise, no matter what happens, both H/A and H/Hr people will love the ending – I think you will. I'm sorry for not being more specific, but I'd like to keep some things secret.

**Reviews: **Lots of reviews… of them - thanks. 

**––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––  
Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling  
**(_part 1 of 3 in the Septanic Saga)_**  
_~Nappa_  
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––**

**Chapter 45:** Val de Mort (part II)

Harry went to sleep quickly after Ron was shooed out the hospital wing. As Harry had expected, things happened just as they had last time he had tried to astralproject himself. Small thin and glowing strands that frayed out like lightning attacked his body – causing him to convulse in pain. The strands were either purple or an orangish yellow colour. Since they were attacking him from all direction and from all objects as far as Harry could seem it appeared to him that everything in the astralworld seemed to be tinted yellow, purple or a surreal mixture of both.

Harry had improved remarkably from his previous attempts however. The last time he had tried, he woke upon opening his eyes, such was the level of pain. This time, the urgency to make sure Hermione was safe combined with practice and a bit of luck – he managed to stand up to the pain. The pain was still there, but only as much as a quill continuously stabbing him. 

Harry rested a bit – not gathering strength – he was far too much of hurry to do that, but to recover and get used to the pain. He knew he had to get up slowly and let himself get used to sitting up. He'd be there a while before he could see her. However he wasn't as slow as he should have been - He turned too quickly to see Hermione in bed, and the pain went beyond his threshold. He had a chance to think one thought before he felt himself fall. " Yay! Progress.' He sarcastically thought, 'At this rate, I'll be a grandfather before I can start doing this with Hermione.'

He really wanted to talk to Hermione, and the inability to do so was frustrating. Mad at himself, he decided to wait until she was awake to talk to her. He expected himself to wake up in the Hospital wing; but that never happened. Instead, he woke up somewhere very alien.

~o0o~

It was a room that Harry had awakened on the floor of. What gave it that entirely alien feeling was the fact that there was no light difference on any of the walls due to the perspective. (ie. No tonal changes of light to dark on any of the walls). It was almost as if someone had dropped him onto a blank canvas. He did have one reason to think that it was a room – something hard under his feet supported him. Harry avoided looking down, because, though he was an experienced flyer, he was not used to feeling so totally disoriented.

In a way, Harry was glad when he heard a soft voice call out his name. It gave him something else to focus his mind on. He wondered if he was dead and if it was an angel calling him. Voice was melodious and not too bad to listen too. It was what he had always thought an angels voice would sound like – accept that it had a hint of needing in it. It drew him towards it – though he didn't know which direction it was coming from.

" Harry…" the voice called out again.

This time it was a bit louder and a bit more familiar – though try as he might he couldn't figure out exactly why. It did loose that angelic tone that had thought was there. He was certain that it was coming from behind him and he turned sharply in that direction.

Then the first of weird things happened. To Harry's amazement the "room" dissolved into the background of a classroom. It was almost as if a painting of a classroom had been sprayed with turpentine to get rid of all the paint – only in reverse. 

When Harry heard the voice again, he noticed that someone else was in the room with him, legs drawn up to chest, sobbing in the far left corner of the room. He moved a bit closer and recognised who it was: Harry knew of only one bushy brown haired girl. Seeing her made him remember how he had felt following the Triwizard tournament – absolutely needing, out of guilt, to melt into the bed – or in her case, the wall.

Harry had no a clue as to the reason why he was here — wherever "here" was. He knew it was not the astralplane – not was it real. For all he knew, this Hermione was only a figment of his fertile imagination — very possible considering his experiences with nightmares. Or perhaps he was experiencing Hermione's current agony – he could not be sure because he did not know how they were linked after he shared some of his gifts with her. For some reason though, Harry could not bring himself to dissociate the person in front of him from the real Hermione, the one he knew. 

Not knowing what to do, he coughed slightly – hoping that it would initiate something. Hermione seemed to become aware of him, but continued to do as had been doing before. He sat down next to her. Nightmare or not, he was not going to leave Hermione alone to cry.

A part of Harry had wanted to run to her and take away the pain – solitude had been a horrible experience for him and he would not wish any of his friends to go through it – but he didn't do it. He wanted to protect her, but somehow knew that he should not. Harry wanted to do it so much that he had to remind himself that he did not know the reason she was like that – for all he knew embracing her could send her off the edge. There could have been a million reasons as to why she was in such a state. A million – none of them would be there if he had a choice in removing them.

All he did was take a seat next to her. When she didn't pull away from him, he moved a bit closer, while still leaving her the freedom to be alone. It seemed like an eternity, before Hermione finally started moving. At first, it was only the sobs, which gradually died down. Then, he could feel her leaning ever-so-lightly on his shoulder. 

Harry did nothing. The time did not seem right yet. Then she rested her head on his shoulder and just stared out at the classroom – finished with her sobbing. Now was the time, Harry felt that he should do something. He gently slid an arm around her back and tried to hug her, when Hermione suddenly wrapped her arm around him and hugged his side – very hard. 

Thick silence filled the gap, before Hermione started to cry all over again. The only thing Harry could think of was to stroke her hair. It was hard to not express discomfort at being held so closely and so roughly. Hermione cried herself to an end and a lot of time elapsed before she was finally ready to talk.

" What took you so long?" She emphasised her anger towards Harry for being late, by squeezing him, hard. Harry silently thanked Merlin that it wasn't any vital organ. Hermione had faced Harry when she spoke, letting him see her tear-stained cheeks and red eyes, still filled with tears.

" Sorry." He said, though he didn't know why.

Hermione half-cried and half-laughed at Harry – confusing the hell out of him. She brushed off her tears and dried her cheek with the back of her hand, before saying, " I thought you'd be here sooner — that's all."

" I couldn't go to sleep." Now it was Hermione's turn to look puzzled. Harry explained, " After Professor Dumbledore left, I tried to go to sleep – hoping that I could maybe astralproject to talk to you… but the harder I tried-"

" -the longer it took?" Hermione finished Harry's sentence.

" Uh-huh." Harry said nodding his head. "  Ron was a lot of help. He showed up with a chess game and well... I'm here – talking to you."

Hermione smiled weakly at Harry. " Thanks." Hermione said hugging Harry's side harder. He could feel her body shake next to his – it was almost as if Hermione was trying to stabilise herself by holding onto Harry.

" Do you want to talk about it?" Harry asked thinking that maybe she was ready to talk to him. Hermione shook her head to say no and tried to divert his attention: " Wanna practice some fighting?", she gingerly asked. Harry knew very well what she was trying at, but decided to follow the lead, deciding it best not to confront Hermione. Again, he did not know if she was real or a figment of his imagination – but either way he realised she was best left alone. " If you're sure you want to."

" I do." Hermione sounded very resolute. Harry nodded to her proposal and the room started fading into a new one – invoking the same disorientating sensation, worsened. Harry learned something new about where he was – as bad as he was feeling, he could not throw up. It would have been a welcome relief if he was somehow able to throw up – then the feeling would not have had been that terrible.

After a few moments, when the background had settled and he felt a bit better, he noticed that they were in a room very much like the class in which Professor Pasha held his dueling classes – though there were a few notable exceptions to the room. The most striking one was that a wall, which in reality lead outside, was here blocked off by a collection of ceiling-scraping shelves – they were filled with book.

On the three other walls were pictures of Harry... Ron, Victor, Collin, Ginny and all the people that Harry knew, as well as a few that he did not. Draco was there in some of those. Another odd thing he did notice was the lack of pictures with Hermione in them and the ones of her seemed to be pictures of pictures. A few pictures of Hermione's parents were hanged there too, but they looked a bit younger than last time he had seen them. But he put them down to him missing a year in Morocco and not remembering them correctly.

There was an odd sort of order to the pictures, but other than that fact, Harry did not know what. Just when he had decided that he was going to ask Hermione, he realised she was not beside him anymore. Looking around he found her in near one of the pictures – nostalgically pulling her fingers along the shimmering golden frame. "  Remember this one?" She asked, when he went and stood net to her. 

Harry looked at the picture and could not place it.

Hermione didn't wait for him to answer – almost as if she knew he didn't. That's what Harry thought – either that or that she was rather anxious to talk about anything other than what was bothering her. 

" It happened a year ago – for you." She said, looking deeply into the picture. " When we went to Morocco and got those first few lessons in Dueling – well, this was part of it." 

Harry tried to remember it, but failed. He knew the picture was vaguely familiar. When Harry did not say anything – Hermione continued. She did not give him much time anyway. "  It was on the second day of our visit. I have you in a chokehold in this one."

All of a sudden the memories from deep in his mind were released, and he remembered the event. He could place the picture now – but it still seemed slightly odd. He did remember it happening that way – but it did not look like what he remembered. He opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione had already moved onto another picture. She was smiling at it. 

" Remember this?" she asked of him. 

Harry looked and saw that it was a picture of Draco petting his cheek. Again it looked familiar, but he could not make out where or when the picture was from. " Third year – when I slapped him." Harry did remember that day – but not the picture. It was his most pleasant memory with Draco in it and he was amazed that he could not situate the images. Hermione showed him a few more pictures and each time the same thing happened. The oddness of the pictures did not go away once she did tell him where and when they had taken place. 

Finally Harry asked before she moved onto another picture – almost like she was enjoying stroll through the memory lane more than the practice fighting they were supposed to do. He had to know why she could place the images – yet he was the one that was gifted with a better memory.

" Isn't it obvious, Harry?" She waved her arms about like Harry was missing the most obvious of the clues. Maybe he was. "  – you're inside my mind." Hermione finished with such coolness that he had to believe that, to her this was the most natural thing in the world. " There aren't any pictures of me – that much anyway - and the ones that are here, they're are of pictures. Everything is from my viewpoint and that's why they look different to you then they did for me. Plus those pictures there..." Hermione indicated to a far corner of the wall, " of my parents should been a big clue."

Harry had caught onto the clues – but he never managed to get put it together. He thought that Hermione could have had been a bit more tactful about her answers – but then again sometimes Hermione just said what she thought. The picture Hermione had showed him was of a young couple. They looked just a few years older than the other picture of Hermione's parents that he had seen this time, there was a baby in their arms. It was a picture from an album that Hermione had seen.

" You sound awfully content about this." Harry said, wanting to focus her attention away from what she thought was simple clues. Harry put up a calm front, but in reality he was very rattled. He did not know what kind of things were in her mind and was worried that something would pop up that would embarrass him or her. After seeing images of Dudley's dream in his Astral Projection, Harry was afraid that something like that would happen again. 

If he found out things like childhood memories and/or whom she loved – and those were things that he could think of off the top of his head. It would pose a problem for him if he found out that Hermione truly loved Victor, and Ron asked about trying to date Hermione – it would put him in a position that he did not want to be in. How would he encourage Ron? How would he make sure that his friend did not take his reluctance help him in his quest to get Hermione's heart, in the wrong way? 

There was also the possibility that he would see something that was " inappropriate" – things that would affect their friendship. His friendship with her he could not jeopardise – she was the only person with whom he could share his secret. 

Looking distantly at the floor, she said, "  I'm not okay with this as much as you think I am, Harry." She said accentuating the part about herself. "  I'm guessing that somehow you ended up in my mind because of the gift that you passed onto me. I think it linked us a bit…" Her voice trailed off. Then she quickly looked up at Harry and he noticed she had brightened up a bit. "  – like that nightmare in Morocco that we shared." She said excitedly – though she was not as excited about it as she normally would have been considering the brand new things she was learning. "  You know the one where…"

"  I know.."

"  I think it's kind of like that." Hermione's face started to lose what little life that had been inserted into it. "  That and the way my mind was..." She trailed off. Shaking herself of the things that she had been thinking, she quickly changed the topic. "  Can we talk about this after we have that practice fight?" Harry nodded – still not wanting to push her. 

Hermione grabbed him by the hand and almost dragged him into the mat area. After depositing Harry to one end, she ran to the other side – her brown hair bouncing as she did. Harry took a relaxed fighting stance knowing that Hermione was not really a match for him and that he would be able to beat her with his hands tied behind his back. But he failed to consider one thing and in the process broke one the cardinal rules of fighting barehanded. Never underestimate your opponent. A really terrible mistake, considering how intimately she knew him.

~o0o~

Hermione had tried to fight fair three times but each time before she came too close Harry – he stopped her. This left her to contemplate alternatives to win. She knew as good as Harry was, he had flaws. The best advantage that she had was the fact that she had a read a book on him and flaws. Harry didn't have that advantage. She also knew him well to know how to exploit his flaws.

She observed Harry's technique awhile – meaning to allow herself be beaten by Harry – and then she noticed two defensive holes in Harry's techniques. Simple ones that the book explained well. She let herself be beaten a few more times, as she finalised the attack strategy. 

It also lulled Harry into a false sense of security. " Come on Hermione," Harry said tauntingly, " I know you can do better."

" Don't try to be patronising, Harry. It doesn't suit you." Hermione didn't like to cheat but Harry's taunt drove away what little guilt she had felt. " So what did you and Alicia do at the Hospital wing?"

Hermione had expected Harry's concentration to waver slightly and expected to have to keep doing it a while before he would be free to an attack. She had not expected what had happened next in her wildest imaginings. Harry was so completely caught off guard after the first question that he had stopped moving totally. 

Hermione recovered from her surprise quickly enough and closed the distance between them. She faked a left punch to make Harry try to do dodge it to the right. When he did, she was already in motion to connect her right hand to his face. Harry was knocked back, and in the confusion, Hermione managed to deal him a decisive punch to his stomach. Harry's self preservation instinct kicked in and he crouched down to protect himself from further attacks, but in doing so he opened up his defences further more. It was not a mistake that David Dippet had warned him a lot about. Hermione didn't go easy on him – she laced her fingers on both her hands together and hit him on his back – hard. 

Harry gave a small grunt and fell to the ground, face first and he didn't move.

At first Hermione thought Harry was faking it, but then she detect no breathing. She started to panic, thinking that she had hit him too hard, killing him. She knelt down to check if he was all right, but as soon as her hand touched his shoulder, Harry grabbed onto it and rolled sideways. The result was that Hermione was pinned on the ground with Harry lying across her stomach. " Did you figure only one of us ever resorted to dirty tricks?" Harry had a smirk on his face, and Hermione's face burned at the accusation that she had cheated.

True it might have been that – but she was not about to admit to that – specially if she could think of a damned decent explanation for it. " It's not cheating." She said defiantly, " It's not my fault if mentioning her makes you lose concentration. You're so hot and bo..." 

Harry did not let her finish the sentence. Putting a bit of pressure on her arm Hermione had to stop herself from saying the rest so that she could adjust to the new heightened level of pain. " Let's not go there." Harry said, all the while putting more pressure on her arm. "  I could say the same thing about you and Victor over the summer."

Hermione's face kept burning. "  I don't go all gooey around him, or about him!"

" Gooey?" Harry almost let go of Hermione because the way it had made him snort out in laughter. Her choice of words had been all the more entertaining since he was sure she had a larger vocabulary than him. A fact that he made clear to her.

" You know what I mean."

" Gooey?" Harry still teased.

" Stop it!" she said trying to get out from under Harry.  

" Interesting choice of words." Harry had to pull at her arm to make sure that she did not manage to get escape from under him. "  Of all the things you could have had said, you said, 'Gooey'." He snorted again with laughter.

Hermione did not like being on the receiving end of Harry's teasing and finally decided that she would hit back properly. She did not need Harry to tease her about Victor in public. Ron was grumpy enough about her and Victor being a couple. As much fun as it was to make Ron suffer for his behaviour at the ball and since, she did not want to face him if Harry started to tease her about her fondness of Victor too. 

She suspected that Ron would not be as mild as he had been – especially since he did not have any " proper" confirmation in his mind that they were more than just friends. And Harry teasing would lead Ron to believe more than she wanted to let him know. 

" Get off me, Harry." She said, " Or..Or..."

" Or what?"

" or I'll tell about your little crush on Alicia."

Harry didn't phase. " I'll tell about Vicky." Harry said back.

" So?" Hermione said defiantly. " Everyone already knows about Victor. Pity, I can't say the same thing about you and Alicia." Harry's face went through several expressions and Hermione found each of them more amusing than previous one. 

" You wouldn't dare." He said with the final expression – horror. That look made her smile. It was hard for Harry to tell if Hermione was serious or not. The Hermione he knew would never do anything as out of character as that – especially considering how rumours made her suffer the year before. But then he considered the fact that Hermione he knew for four years from the one that he had gotten to know in Morocco. And after seeing her almost a year after he had last seen her – he was not certain who the "real" Hermione was. The biggest enigma was if it was Hermione that had changed or himself. 

Hermione on the other hand was thinking that if Harry knew her at all. As far as she knew, spreading rumours had never been one her main traits — she had never done it, and never would as long as she kept her whole sanity. Somehow she felt pleased that she had the ability to totally surprise and confuse Harry. " I would." She said, almost meaning it. "  Now, Mister Potter, be a gentleman and get off me."

Harry mumbled lowly about gossiping girls and let her go. He might have had thought that she was finished, but she wasn't. She intended to milk the proverbial cow as much as she could. " Aren't you going to help me up?" Harry took her extended arm and yanked it more than he really needed to. It hurt her a little, but she didn't show. She just moved to her side of the mat, getting ready to fight again.

Harry told himself, on the other side of the mat, that he had to concentrate on the sparring match and pay no attention Hermione's taunting. He was sure that she would use the upper hand she now had and he had to control himself about Alicia. 

He also re-evaluated his own strategy. He scolded himself for underestimating Hermione. He knew that he should not have had done that – since he had always believed that Hermione could become as good as him, if not better. He just did not think she would be as powerful in the physical department as well as the magic department that she was. Plus he scolded himself for not realising that Hermione had read a fair bit of the Book by David Dippet and as a result know all the weaknesses that a master knows of his pupils. _' I'll have to take a gander at that book myself.'_ He thought.

He was utterly astonished when Hermione did not try to tease him again — so confident he was that it was coming. 

Hermione came forward slightly and tried to fake a dive to his legs. Had it been an ordinary fighter, and that trick would have worked brilliantly. But this was Harry, and he'd been in so many fights already – and knew this most of the basics of the tricks of the hand-to-hand fighting. He waited until her fake dive was half done before dealing a punch to her jaw. 

Hermione staggered back and looked at Harry with wide eyes – she had seen the attack somehow in her mind, but she hadn't expected Harry to hit as hard as he had. Harry took his chance to push a slightly dazed Hermione out of the mat with quick sets of kicks and punches.

" That hurt." Hermione said getting up from the floor – slightly wobbly.

Harry laughed. " It's not less than what you had planned."

"  Oh!" Hermione raised her eyebrow, " And, what did I have planned?" Hermione questioned Harry – certain that Harry could not have had foreseen what she was up to. She always thought that she was good at hiding her motives in a fight.

Harry leaned forward closely, and whispered, "  I was taught by an old man and a young girl (referring to Dumbledore's niece) how to fight. Don't you think she would have had tried to hit me there too?" Hermione did not answer. " Being the part of the male body with the most nerve endings and what not.."

As Harry said it, Hermione started to blush. She had never thought that her motives were so plain. It then came to her that Harry had been able to block all her attacks because he was predicting her movements on the information that he knew about her. To stop him from doing that she would have to fight as unpredictably as she could. 

He patted her shoulder and said, " Next time make sure that you keep your eyes moving. If you do that you can keep somewhat of a track on what's happening and make sure that the other person doesn't grasp your thinking pattern, and what you're targeting at."

Hermione smiled stiffly, as Harry smiled broadly. " I think we've had enough of the fighting for now."

Hermione came up to him and gave him a hug. When she said, " Thank you", he felt the soft cushioning charm fading and being replaced with warm sand. The texture and the warmth was a nice sensation before the more abrupt and violent change of scenery happened. It was worse than the previous two and Harry was sure that, was it not for Hermione's hold on him, he would have fainted on the spot.  

" Better?" She asked after a while and Harry nodded.

Hermione looked totally at ease with all this. Harry supposed that it was her mind and it did not affect her as it did him. It couldn't. She was part of the place where he was, while he was an intruder. " Let's sit down by that sunshade." After a few moments she spoke: " It's getting worse isn't it?"

" Yeah, a bit." Harry said.

" Here, lie down and rest a bit. I won't change the scenery, I promise." She smiled weakly at him. Harry lay down with his head on her lap. It felt oddly comforting to do this. He felt a lot of the terrible feelings evaporate as Hermione stroked his hair.

" Where are we?" He asked, looking up past the sunshade and Hermione, to gaze at the picture perfect sky. The salty, warm yet humid marine air was intoxicating. The quiet breeze seemed to gently stroke his cheek — for a moment, he imagined it being Hermione's hand. 

" It's a beach off the coast of north-east France." Hermione shifted a bit to get into more comfortable position. " Everyone says nice things about south France – but if you ask me this is the best place to visit France. The beach is almost empty and look out that sea – so clear. And the food! Oh Harry! I really wish you could taste some of it… it's …" Hermione went a bit gloomy again. "…rather nice. Every time something bad happens, I picture myself here and things get a bit better."

It took Harry a moment to realise the significance of them being there. Hermione had purposely led him into a place that she cherished a great deal and yet had never told either him or Ron about. It was her safe haven from the world and even those that were caused by him and Ron. The things that they had made her go though because of their stupidity each year they had been friends made him wonder how many countless times they had made her visit this idyllic paradise.

When he was in Morocco – lost and without a friend in the world, he realised how valuable each of his friends were. The way that he and Ron kept abusing Hermione over the years for doing what she thought was right – for them – had made him feel worse than ever he had felt. It was made worse since she was always right and they still never listened to her.

" You ready to talk now?" Harry wanted to ask, to try to make up for all the wrongs, but he did not. For some reason, he stopped himself at the last moment, preferring to leave her the freedom of coming out on her own. " Want to know what happened after Alicia took me to the Hospital wing?" he said, deciding to confide into her. 

Hermione nodded, remembering that Harry had related the events prior to Alicia's visit leaving the details of the actual visit. Harry explained what had happened. Neville's misadventure and Pansy's misfortune, when she came in on the stretcher and finally the dreaded card game.

" So let me get this straight." She said trying to think things through clearly. " You have to get her a gift – because you lost in a game that you two played… Mondock right?" Harry nodded. " Is that what has you worried?"

When Harry nodded again, she couldn't stop herself from admonishing him. " Honestly!" she said, " you stopped thousands of people fighting to death without even flinching – but the possibility of the girl not liking your present has you worried!"

" When you say it like that – you make it sound so…"

" Stupid." Hermione finished his sentence.

" I was going to say, cliché. But I guess that works too." Harry then took a slightly more serious tone. " And who says I didn't flinch? I would have given anything to prevent having to be thrown back into the past. Two sides coming at me. And both wanting me dead – it's no picnic and thinking about that time just makes me shiver sometimes. From the way you describe it, it's like I'm described as some kind of all-powerful deliverer in the book. I wasn't — far from it."

Hermione ignored Harry's ranting. " She'll like the present, no matter what it is — and I know how terrible some people's tastes are when it comes to picking out a present for a girl… come to think of it, they're terrible *especially* when it comes to girls… But anyway, she's your friend, and friends will like whatever you give them – no matter how terrible."

Harry blinked at her twice - his eyes widened by realisation. He sat up. " I…" He started, but then he amended, " We gave you something like that? Didn't we?" He asked.

" No!" she said very loudly – far louder than she needed to. Not only was the beach pretty empty – there was very little background noise that she had to get over. " No," she repeated, but this time a little softer and a little less willing to admit.

" We did!" Harry looked around the scenery. Looking for a familiar face so he could tell them the news. He wanted to tell other people so that they might remind him in the future. " By Merlin's beard! Why didn't you ever tell us?"

" I never said that I didn't like your presents – it's just that they… well, that they left a lot to be desired... oops," Hermione clamped her hand down on her mouth. She didn't intend for Harry to know.

" You don't like the armband too, I suppose," Harry said sadly.

" No! I liked it, loved it actually! - as I did all the others – well even more actually." Harry brightened a bit. " One of you finally gave me something thoughtful. I mean books are fun, really, – but since it's all I ever get, they're annoying. But, as annoying as they were, it showed that you two cared. That's what matters. Even though there were some gifts I could have done without – I mean what the heck am I supposed to do with a pack of dungbombs ??!! – I still liked what they stood for… Confusing aren't I?"

Harry nodded. " Very, but I believe I know what you mean. Just don't ask me to explain."

Hermione leaned on Harry's shoulder and looked out at the water. A while later, out of the blues, she suddenly said, " I killed someone..."

====================================================

I have the next part scheduled for release after I get a friend to read it over. This chapter was edited once by a beta – but I have to get it checked again. Hope you like it so far.


	46. Val De Mort part 3 The Curse

**––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––  
Harry Potter and Septanic Dueling  
**(_part 1 of 3 in the Septanic Saga)_**  
_~Nappa_  
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**Chapter 46:** Val de Mort (part III) – The Cat! 

The elderly looking person that occupied the high tower looming over the decrepit old castle opened his door to the veranda. Wading through the thin layer of snow, he went straight to the railing. He was looking for something that he already knew was there. His wrinkled face wrinkled some more as he squinted his electric purple eyes at the edge of the horizon. 

Three little spots.

He sighed, letting out a steam of hot breath that condensed quickly in the frigid temperature of the oriental Siberia. He hated when his fears came to life – he hated having to know what was about to happen. He looked out for a second more than he had to, before he turned ad headed back inside.

' What must happen, must happen." He thought grimly. " I can't change the future – no matter what. I can't change destiny.

He gently closed the door. He didn't go away from the window. He wanted to wait till it all started. 

~o0o~

Someone who would have said that Harry was shocked, would have been making an understatement. His vision of the world was literally turned upside down when Hermione had said that she had killed someone.

Hermione was, to Harry's knowledge, one of the least violent people on the planet. She dealt with her anger differently that most people that Harry knew. She preferred to walk away from confrontations. The only time Harry remembered her doing different was when, in their third year, Draco had enraged her to a degree that she felt it was necessary to hit him. She did hit Draco in the train ride this year – but could hardly call that a violent act – she gave him plenty of warning and she could have done worse.

Harry knew – he would have had. 

Hermione did have outbursts involving Ron, but they had all been shouting matches and of them resulted in her walking away — pouting — and Ron yelling after her or in the worst case, Ron getting hit on the head for a rogue comment. 

All in all Hermione was not a girl that was violent. Not to the extent that Harry considered out of the ordinary. She was in the opposite end of the scale. So when a girl like that claims to have killed someone, it seems like this world isn't the same as the one minutes earlier. ' It's always the quite ones.' – Harry remembered Hermione herself telling him that told him  

"When did this happen?" He asked in a low voice.

"Today."

Harry sat there, not knowing what to do or how to react. His hands felt clammy and cold. He could feel his toes curling. He could feel lots of parts of his body suddenly. It was almost as if his mind wanted to delve deeper inside of himself so he could avoid looking at Hermione and what she had done. 

He tried to think about it logically, but the images of Hermione killing someone came to his mind. They were enhanced more and more with the images of people getting killed he had in his mind. Harry tried to think – but nothing came to his mind other than images of Hermione killing someone. He shook his head to get rid of them – only to get more vivid.

A stray thought proved to be his salvation of somewhat. Maybe it was a 'deatheater' – he thought to himself. It made perfect sense. Being the kind of girl that Hermione was, he was sure, she would be sad about killing anyone – even a killer. It was the perfect reason. It was the most likely reason. It was the perfect excuse.

Harry asked Hermione, " They didn't hurt you, right?" His voice was very low. Hermione would have had missed it – if she wasn't so close - it was almost as if he wanted her not to hear it – like he was afraid of the answer. 

Hermione lifted her head from his shoulder and looked up at him. The confusion in her eyes was surprising to Harry, though what he was expecting was unknown even to him. " They?" she asked, " Who are you talking about?" Her eyebrows shot up a bit. 

No sooner had she said it, it made sense to her. Harry started to open his mouth, but she raced ahead. " I wasn't attacked by deatheaters, Harry. In transfiguration - I killed a cat." 

Harry could just blink at her in a state of surprise, frustration, anger and relief. " A Cat!" He said loudly. " But but…" He sputtered; " you just said… you killed_ someone. _As in a person."

" Well," Hermione said as if she wanted to move onto something more important and what Harry asked was of little consequence. " I meant a cat." 

Harry wanted to scream at Hermione for getting him worried and thinking the worst because of that mistake. But in the end he just mumbled out a soft, " Oh...How did it happen?"

Hermione put her head on his shoulder again. " You know when in transfiguration we make something come alive – have you thought about what we do?" Harry didn't say anything – he was still recovering from the previous shock. " We give life to something inanimate, Harry – which till now, I haven't really thought about. But today… Today I did. It's nice to consider, how wonderful it is to do what we do, but then when you think about the pain the failed attempts make the creature go through... you have to wonder if it can lives up to that." Hermione cuddled up closer to Harry and he in turn started to rub her shoulder. " It's even worse when you think what happens you turn the living into inanimate."

" Hermione," He said softly, " Don't you think you're being a little…" Harry did not say what he was going to say – Hermione looked up to him questioningly. His mind started to search for possible alternatives to what he wanted to say and when found one he did. 

But before that Hermione managed to ask – almost threateningly, " I'm being what, Harry?"

Harry gulped and almost didn't say, " Melodramatic." 

Her eyebrows arched and he rushed to explain himself only to put in his foot in his mouth when he said, " I mean, it's nothing new."

The glare and the expression on Hermione's face made Harry suddenly go on the defensive to what he had said. He forgot about how she had misled him by the choice of the word, " Someone." He thanked his luck that she did not get as upset with him as Hermione surely would have had done if Ron had been the one to suggest what he had.

" Let me explain…" He tried again. " I meant, we kill animals all the time in class and not to mention for food… If we don't how're we to know what to do when…"

" I know where you're headed Harry," Hermione interrupted as her facial expression softened. She got up and looked away from him, but stood where she had. " – but the thing is, you weren't the one that killed the cat. I was. You didn't see the mind of an innocent creature slowly disappear right in front of you. It wasn't a nice death they get at the slaughterhouse Harry – it was a horrible way to go. It's not like the killing for food – they have laws to make sure that they don't suffer. I saw the cat suffer in my mind. I felt it."

Harry got up and stood next to her. Drawing her close, he held her and patted her tangled lump of hair. He did not see it, but she was crying. He did however realise the source of her troubled mind was not the morality of killing the animals for food or in magic. It was bothering her because she felt that she killed the cat and it's the loss of life – be it a cat – which was something that she had not come to terms with. Her being a lover of cats made it only harder. Harry did not know why, but he felt that she really had not been the one to kill – but felt guilty about it. Like he had about Cedric. Knowing deep down that you weren't responsible did not help to alleviate the mind – nothing lessened the horrors of a violent death witnessed.

He was more used to it than most others, having lived through what he had. The death of his parents, Cedric and the rotting corpses of Morocco – as few as they had been, there were some. He had come to realise that in the coming years he would have to adjust to others being taken away from him – he did not like it or want it – but he expected it. His only zealous hope was that no one he knew be taken from him. He didn't want Hermione to die… not Alicia, Ron or Sirius or anyone, but he knew that it was a possibility and he had come to accept it. He had to keep repeating it to himself – hoping that maybe he'd believe it himself if he thought it enough.

Hermione, despite telling Harry that she could be killed by the deatheaters for being a muggleborn- a few days ago somehow hadn't accepted the fact that she might have to see others die around her. It was one thing to think it and an entirely different matter to accept it. 

Harry wished that he had not interrupted her when he had – he might have convinced her through something in the story that she was not at fault. He wanted to help her get some relief… even if it was knowing that someone did not blame her. " If you want we can talk…" He started, but Hermione's dam broke before he could finish.

" In transfiguration class today," she blew her nose on Harry's shirt like it was a handkerchief before continuing, " I finally managed to get the ProTem spell working today... I had to turn a chair into a cat – took me twice to do it. The spell lets you feel the lets you feel the emotions inside the subject. When you're there, you can then manipulate them. It was all pink and vivid blue at first and quite beautiful…" Her voice trailed off.

It appeared to Harry that Hermione wanted to say more, but had trailed off because she found it too difficult to give details. He knew the feeling – so overwhelming that he couldn't stop when started. Hermione it seemed did not have the same problem, but a different similar one. Though she could start, she found it terribly difficult to go into detail. The need to say it was still there and it only frustrated her that she could not. As traumatic as it all had been for her, Harry for a short moment could not help but feel elated that he'd be able to animagi soon. He knew it was wrong to see the silver lining in Hermione's dark clouds, but he was young and like any other boy his age he was allowed a to behave like them. 

To his credit, he reprimanded himself as soon he realised what he was doing. Hermione started again and he paid close attention – wanting to redeem himself in his own mind. 

" Magic inside even the simplest of the minds…" but stopped. She took a few moments of brake before starting without any prompt from Harry. " Then the colours changed and I could feel the…" she started to shake. 

Harry felt helpless not knowing what to do. He felt like an idiot. When Hermione started again, he felt a bit better. He knew he had to listen and it was something he could do. 

" I felt it all. The pain I caused when my transfiguration was less than perfect. When I … when I failed to do the transfiguration, and … and when the professor turned it back I felt … saw…" Words failed her again.

Hermione gave up all attempts to hold back from crying. Harry had very little in the way of experience regarding how to comfort someone, so he did clumsily what he thought he should and hoped that he was right. It took a while before she stopped whimpering into his shoulder after a while, and when she had she seemed to want to divert Harry's attention. 

" Look what I've done." She said, glaring at the wetspot she had caused in Harry's shirt from crying.

Harry wave his hands dismissively. " It's okay." – he wanted to make sure she was alright and could careless about the way his shirt was.

" I can just zap you into something else if you want..." Hermione said. " I think." She added as an afterthought.

" Don't worry about that." Harry's eyebrows knitted together in concern. " Are you feeling better?"

" No." Hermione let out a sigh and pulled back from him. " But I'll get over it. Let's do some more practice." 

Harry agreed to do it, but he registered a concern in his mind that Hermione did not look as okay with the situation as she was trying desperately to convey. She did however look slightly better off than he had found himself inside her mind. Hermione changed the scenery back to the Ali Pasha's classroom, and had to hold onto Harry to help him not feel as sick as before. When he was ready she dragged Harry off to his corner and quickly moved onto hers. It was almost as if she wanted to get started so she could think about something else. 

Hermione had taken Harry's advice about not focusing on where she was going to hit – but she over did it – as she did with any good advice. Her eyes moved too much and she paid not enough attention to Harry. He did not show any mercy and made her pay dearly for it. After three minutes, she was beginning to feel the tension in her muscles. It felt like that – it could have been an eternity. Just barely making it off the ground she said, " Was it necessary to hit me that hard?"

" No." He admitted, but he kept smiling. "  But Voldemort would have had done far worse."

" Well…"

" What?" Harry challenged her to say something.

" Nothing." Hermione wanted to do a witty comeback, but there were none to be found. She would get him back for. She made a promise to herself. Hermione took a stance again, hands up in front of her. When she lined up with Harry's face, she noticed Harry was scratching the ground with his toe to get rid of some kind of imperfection in the floor. Hermione knew that Harry did it often – something she suspected was a product of the Dursley's making him do house work and repeatedly telling him it's not done right.

She lined up calmly her hand to Harry's face, ready to strike when Harry was ready, but then she was struck with the most intense urge – and she didn't fight it. She was filled with unknown energy and the tenseness that she had felt before, started to go away. She pounced on Harry, landing right on top of him and the shock knocked him to the ground. She had landed around Harry's midsection, so when he fell, she gripped onto his sides with her thy, and got ready to punch him. 

Hermione thought that she had taken him by surprise. She expected Harry to behave like he had the other times too, but Harry had learned to be a bit more vigilant. If only a little. He caught her fist just as she was about to hit him and rolled sideways – ending up with Harry right on top of her. One arm trapped beneath her and other in his hand, she felt very exposed – very vulerable. She knew it would have been useless to try and throw him off. Harry was holding her in a way that prevented her from using any part of herself as leverage to throw him off. 

To Harry's smirking smile, she closed her eyes instinctively – though without any logical reason. Then she "saw" a violent flash of red, orange and white from behind her closed eyes. Something that resembled a very bright white coloured light exploding in front of Harry. She knew she hadn't done that on purpose, so she assumed that her plane was helping her. She knew this gave her an advantage as it was equivalent to having a wand – and Harry not having one. So she had decided that it was the plane that was helping her – instead of her mind doing it. 

Though once she got over her initial surprise she too advantage of Harry's surprise and literally threw Harry off her – he hit the mat a few meters from where he was. He looked up at her dazed and confused – to see Hermione's grinning face looking over him. 

He tried to shake off the surprise, and to get rid of the spots that he was seeing. They went away quickly enough. The spots – not the surprises. He had mistakenly thought that inside Hermione's mind the physics were similar to that of the AstralPlane. He ignored somehow the fact that inside Hermione's mind he could feel sick and get hurt – unlike the astral plane – where it just hurt. With magical things. Harry sat up quickly. He rubbed his head and tried to make the world stop spinning. " You cheated." He said indignantly. " You used your power over this place."

" Not really." Hermione said in her most innocent girl voice. " I'm just giving the experience as how it would have had turned out if Voldemort had a wand and you didn't." 

Harry could not help but smile at the way Hermione had turned his words around to sting him. " That's sneaky." Harry said sounding more happy than angry. " Good."

As they continued their sparring, Hermione used more and more "magic" to manipulate herself and the objects around her to cause damage to Harry. The intensity of their sparring kept increasing with each round and it was rapidly approaching a fever pitch that neither seem to be aware of. Harry, hyped up on adrenaline, was becoming more and more reckless as time wore on. 

Hermione attacked again. She used her predictable but dependable attack of white explosion to temporarily blind Harry and when he started to back away, she moved behind him. She knew she only had a little time before Harry would realise what she was trying to do, so she worked fast and wound her arm around his neck. As soon as she had done that Harry stopped trying to feel his way to where Hermione was. He tried to forcibly remove her hand. Hermione was waiting for that. She used her right leg and applied pressure on his back – in another words, knee him there. This combined with the hold around his neck, caused him to lose balance. Harry toppled over with Hermione under him, but since he had his back to her, he didn't have an advantage. He tried to roll away from her, but she just held onto him harder. As soon as Harry realised that was not going to work, he decided that he would put as much of his weight on her as he possibly could – hoping pain would make her grip less.

It didn't work. Hermione had planned out everything and Harry was still getting used to Hermione having such an advantage over him. She seemed even physically stronger – which was not the case in real life. Unless Hermione somehow got hold of a strength boosting potion. 

As soon as he had done it, Hermione made them rise up in the air several meters. The 'woosh' sound and the fact that there was no air for him to feel against his skin as they were elevated, made it seem to Harry that the room fell a few metres. 

" You can't win Harry." The taunt in her voice was not even vaguely disguised and Harry could feel that she was enjoying having him at her mercy. " Give up?"

Harry said squirming, " No."

" Good." She said, deliberately loosening her grip a little, " I wouldn't want the fight to stop yet."

She had set up a trap for Harry. Harry by that time had calmed down enough to realise what it was, but he had no choice but to take it. Her hand was making it hard to breathe. Though he certainly was not calm enough to remember that he didn't need to breath – like he had found out when he first talked to her.

He tried to roll away like he suspected that she was expecting him to, but Hermione didn't do as he expected. She didn't try to grab him for a better hold, but she waited until Harry was halfway through the roll and was facing the sidewall before throwing Harry towards that incoming wall. Unknown to Harry she had been making the wall come towards them all the while she let him roll. The wall and Harry hit each other with a bone crunching thud. Hermione tried to stop the wall from moving any further, but she had lost control of the moving wall, and Harry's body slammed into the other wall and blood, spit and a scream escaped his mouth on impact.

~o0o~

From across the other side of the expanse a man with beady red eyes looked to the distant decrepit castle. His eyes were not red normally, but the toll in pain, magic, and sleeplessness had made it that way. The castle had been shrouded in so much old-magic that it took him a week to find it. The scale of difficulty in locating the castle only becomes clear when one considers that it had taken the man only a day to find all the hidden giant tribes all over the globe. The castle had been harder to find even when he knew the approximate location of oriental Siberia.

" There is it." He said to a slightly taller but younger man.

" That's the mystical Aragorn?" said the young man, disappointment evident in the voice. " I though it would be..."

" Bigger?" finished the older man. A nod was given to confirm what he already knew to be the child's thought – a child compared to him. " Size isn't important in magic, Jonkins's." He said, almost like he was a father teaching his son the basics of mathematics. His voice had an unusual patience in his voice. " Power is." The boy looked up to the older man with reverence. His eyes grew big and bright with respect and he only grew more happy when his mentor said, " Jonkins, you remind me of me, in school. So eager to learn."

 " Thank you, master." The boy looked giddy with happiness. " That's the best complement anyone has ever given to me." The older man looked up to the sky, and thought, _' So very much like me... ,' _before deciding that he needed to do something. He took out both his hands from his pockets. The sunlight bouncing off the silver hand made his figure looked distinctive. He turned to his "troops" – twenty masked men and women dressed in black cloaks and except one, they'd all be getting their first taste of murder.

He cleared his throat, and all of them stopped talking. " Our master wants us to go in there and retrieve a stone called, 'Tundra.' I do not know why he wants it but the master wants it." 

He paused for a second. All the deatheaters, before him, knew what to say. " What master wants he takes."

" That he does. That he does." He said clapping on Jonkins's shoulder. " There're several obstacles in getting into the building. First and least of which is the magical barrier around it. Now, I'll find out how good your teachers were at Dumbstrung. Tell me, how do we get around that?"

There was no answer.

" Well, it seems your initiators left something out in your training. I'll teach you. I need a volunteer…" He looked around for one, several of them stepped forward, but Wormtail decided against them all, choosing to ask Jonkins instead. " Want to help?"

Jonkins relied eagerly – almost glowing with pleasure. " Yes, Master."

Wormtail whispered, " Edo-Echo-Dominy-Pacts." And silverness of his hand seem to dull for a bit, but then a small burst of green enveloped the young charge. There was no pain and only a shivering feeling for the recipient. It was so without incident that Jonkins had to ask his master if that's all that was required of him.

" Not exactly." Wormtail went around until he was looking over Jonkins's shoulder and towards castle. " Can you see the green or red barrier?"

It took the young charge a few seconds to realise what his master was referring to. There was a thin light green coloured barrier that he could see now. It went right through some trees and rock. There was an opening though. " Yes. Yes... A green one."

" Good job!" Wormtail patted Jonkins on his back. " That's all for today."

He was going to say that there was a small opening that they could get through, but didn't thinking that his master knew best. " I'm Happy to be of service to ..." he started.

Jonkin never finished that sentence, for he was flung headfirst into the invisible green barrier from a curse originating from Wormtail's silver hand. 

Mid flight Jonkins hit something and his body exploded into hundreds of small glowing red orbs. The shield became visible as the shockwave travelled from the point to there rest of the shield. The small opening became visible to those that were still looking at scene. Their mind stuck in horror and disgust. Most of the deatheater began to laugh at the demise of one of their own. And that made Wormtail happy. " AND that is why you never Volunteer for anything!" said the rat faced man. " Grab one of those red orb things – and go through the barrier."

The deatheaters behind him did as he told them, though most of them waited for someone else to go through the barrier first before they themselves went through it.

As he picked up one of the red orbs, Wormtail said to himself, " Sorry about that old chap, but you're just too much like me. I can't have you taking up my spot in the future."

~o0o~

Two young Agornian males rushed through cold and damp passages to reach the lair of their leader's chambers. They didn't wait to get permission to enter the room that had gold doorframes – quite a contrast to the rest of the dark, decrepit and damp castle. " Orkon," They yelled in a hurry.

A deep voice imbued with palpable power replied back, " South Window." The voice was wispy.

The taller of the two tripped over as the younger one tried in his impatience to beat the other to the south window. Recovering gracefully from the tripping, the taller male followed quickly behind. They arrived to find him waiting there for them – but looking out the window. The taller was about to begin when the younger one broke in. " They've breached the south perimeter." He said in rush.

" I know." Sighed the cloaked being they called, 'Orkon'. " Do you want to attack them – my impatient friend?"

" Yes." said the older one, grabbing the younger one by the shoulder and drawing him behind him.

The younger one couldn't take a hint that it was not appropriate for him to speak yet. " Did you have a vision." He asked naively.

" Blake!" Admonished the tall one. (A/N: Blake is pronounced : BLA-Key)

" It's okay Kaleka." said Orkon.

" It's not master." said Kaleka, who was the taller one. " He's too impatient. He's…"

" I am not offended by his actions. It is perfectly alright to speak to me as you speak between yourselves."

Blake came forward and asked his question again. " Did you have a vision, Orkon?"

Orkon laughed. " No." He said. " I saw them coming in the horizon."

The older of the two had been the only one of them who had see Orkon and talked to him. Kaleka had felt oddly rattled since he had seen the enemy breach the perimeter. He let his comrade tag along with him when he was coming to see the Orkon. He knew Orkon well, and even he was having trouble deciphering whether the statement he had made about seeing the enemy on the horizon was a sarcastic one. " Are they here for the jewel?" asked Kaleka softly.

" Same as always." Orkon Sounded tired. "– looking for a power that does not exist."

Blake cut in again. " A swift counter attack would get rid of them easy enough. I counted only twenty of them – One of us should be enough. I'll go."

Orkon started to laugh. " Do you share the same opinion as his Kaleka?" he asked and Kaleka took a look at Blake and then back again to Orkon. " No."

" No..." It sounded as though Blake was going to say that the taller one could come with him, before he realised what had been said. With his arms moving about wildly he said, " NO! Have you gone mad? There're coming to kill us and you just want to let them come and take all that they want? Don't tell me you're afraid of those puny little men."

Kaleka turned to the younger man. He was sharp in his rebuttal. " They are puny only through the long-glass (A/N: Telescope). You've not fought enough to know that not all of them are the same and these are very different." Kaleka seem to realise that his voice went higher than it was supposed to be – especially in the presence of Orkon. He bowed his head low, and continued softly. " Just take my word for it."

" Oh! Here we go again." said Blake rolling his eyes. " That damned feelings speech again!" He ripped of a bit of his cloak to show three rows small long marks on his breast. " I've killed seventeen of them with these hands and I certainly think I'm plenty experienced enough."

The taller one looked down at the ground and with his most solemn voice said, " I've killed far more than you comrade, but you don't see me needing to carve them into my body. I'd rather not remember any of them."

" It doesn't matter what you say," said the younger one doing his best to ignore the more experienced one. " the fact is that we're better than they are and we'll crush them. There's a reason why the grey lady from over the mountains handed us the Tundra Jewel. It's because we can keep it safe."

Kaleka didn't pay attention to Blake any more. He turned to Orkon." I've never questioned your wisdom before, Orkon, but these feeling those that come to me today – they excite me in the most oddest of ways. I must again ask you the wisdom of keeping the jewels. Why do we not just destroy the stone and let them forever not pose a danger to all those that can use it."

  
" Tell me how to do it, and I will." Orkon turned and faced them. " If a goddess could not do it – then who am I to do it? No, my squabbling friends, future's already been written and to try to rewrite it this late is very dangerous. Any small deviation could have a very disastrous result. It pains me as it is to know what is to come and do nothing to stop them. There's just far too many risks." He sighed. " There is a reason that tampering with time is forbidden." 

He addressed Kaleka. " You will lead your people into battle. All of them."

Blake Kaleka exchanged glance. " You will fight. You will kill as many of them as you can, but do not kill Silverhand. He must survive."

Having been taught from birth that they were to keep the jewels from all those that seek it, the instruction of Orkon did not make sense. They had never been told to take prisoners. They looked back and forth at the name sliverhand before asking in unison : " Why?"

The old man put up his hand to stop them from hounding him for answers. " We were never meant to protect the stone from all evil as you've come to see it. We are here to keep it safe till a special evil comes to claim it. This is that evil. Now, GO!"

Kaleka turned to Blake to get him to "volunteer" to stay with the Orkon. Orkon was powerful, but he was also weak in his old age.

" Go with him." said Orkon. " I do not need protection."

Kaleka nodded and ran after Blake. If he had moved slower or with less noise, he might have had heard Orkon say, " May the goddess guide your 'ruh' to Alocar – for I've sent you to death."

(A/N: If it's not clear – 'ruh' is spirit and Alocar is heaven. 'RUH' come from Arabic. It means spirit. ;) )

~o0o~

Ekaterina sighed as she polished her silver dagger. When she was satisfied with the sheen on the metal she scraped it against her skin. It wasn't perfect enough. She started to polish the dagger again. The sound of urgent footsteps coming down the stairs set her hearts racing. 

Two folds were the reason for the quickening – first she could literally smell Blake. 

He had been the one to urge her to come to the meeting place early – but somehow forgot all about her. That had been four hours ago, and she could not care anymore that he was of noble blood and she the illegitimate daughter of a pauper. She was shining the dagger just for Blake – No one made her wait. 

The second reason gave her an excuse to forget about killing her scaly fiend – Blake. She was sure that the castle perimeter was breached. She didn't know which one of them would go out to kill them, but she hoped it was her. She needed to get a tailbone to complete the skeleton model of the human body that she was working on.

As much as she did not want to do it for Blake, she stood up. He was royal and she had to do it. She convinced herself that Alina and Kaleka were the ones that she did it for. 

The first thought that entered Ekaterina's mind upon seeing the three enter, was how good Alina and Kaleka looked together. Married for six years, those two lost themselves in each other often enough for the elderly to know to cover the eyes of the youngsters. Ekaterina and all the other girls of the castle wanted a love like Aliana had. Alina true to her name was a very beautiful and Kaleka was a brave and handsome man. They made the perfect match.

Blake was impatient and disorganised. Ekaterina was sure that he needed a woman to whip him into a productive member of the castle's resident. For a time she had been interested in Blake, but she grew tired of him. There would be too much objections from village elders about such a marriage. She was sure that Kaleka would not like it at all. Being of noblebirth didn't mean anything outside the castle. Everyone had to know his or her proper place in the hierarchy to live in the castle harmoniously. It had been a great big mess when she had been chosen to replace one of the older shadow raiders. A marriage was certainly out of the question – plus she didn't know how he felt about her. 

" Why're we all here?" she asked Blake when he was within her reach.

" Intruders." Blake said the most obvious of things. She knew that is why they were there, but she had meant that why all four of them were there. It frustrated her that Blake knew this and chose to reply as he had. 

" I know that! But why?" She waved her dagger in the air to intimidate him.

" Orkon…" Blake started to say, but didn't. He saw that Kaleka was getting ready to speak. " Kaleka's going to explain."

Ekaterina put away her dagger and looked to the perfect couple. " They better, or you're going to suffer."

" Orkon tells us this is the last time we fight." Started Kaleka. A small murmur went through the crowd of eight that were there – three males had joined them without making too much noise. " Know that we shall be victorious – win or loose. We may not live to see the fruits of our labour, but our children will and children of their children will. Go with the knowledge that you may not return – but draw strength from this. We WILL win. Are you ready for it?"

" We're!" The combined cry from all seven in that small room was an ache in his ears for Kaleka, but he was tolerant of it.

" Don't kill the man called 'Silver Hand'. It is the wish of Orkon." said Blake. No one questioned how they were to know who it was that was called – silverhand. They knew, they would know when the time came.

Everyone nodded.

" Death or Victory!" Blake shouted.

" Death or Victory!"

~o0o~

Wormtail picked up one of the scattered glowing red orb closest to him and walk through the barrier. His master had thought to tell only him of what was to come. Shadow raiders. They group of Legendary fighters so terrifying that men have been rumoured to have had died by just looking them. There were stories that were of folklore and so utterly unbelievable, that Wormtail did not believe them. He was not particularly worried about facing the enemy for himself. His master's gift would keep him safe - he knew that, but he also knew that against his inexperienced comrades, the battle hardened Shadow Raiders would prove to be a great challenge. 

He would not have been as confident as he had been without his silver hand – for it was the source of his power, status amongst the deatheaters and most importantly of all - his confidence. If he didn't have that, then he would have had distanced from the mission that he had been given.

Wormtail's compatriots had come to a stop behind a few rocks after they had entered the barrier. He made his way to best looking rock – occupied by a very short stocky fellow with shiny bald spot. He clapped on the man's shoulder and said, " lookout position."

The man hastily got off his rock, and made his way to a slanted rock formation that was just a few meters ahead. He laid down on it and with his hand, shaded his eyes from the sun. 

There was a movement and Wormtail felt someone sit down next to him. He turned disdainfully to the man next to him – having already recognised him from the smell of Alcohol in his breath. This man was the only known deatheater to drink the muggle beverage. Wizards were not affected by alcohol like muggles were. It was nothing but sweet water to them. Butterbeer was far more intoxicating.

" You didn't have to kill him you know." said the man, scratching his beard. " I'm not stupid, Wormtail. I know there's a reason why it took you so long to find this place. Someone went to great lengths to protect this place. We're going to need every single one of them when the time comes."

" You could have had fooled me." Wormtail said laughing.

The other man didn't laugh, because he did not know why Wormtail had said what he had. " what?"

" You said, you're not stupid." Explained Wormtail. " So I said, You could have had fooled me. Get it?"

The man did get it, but it was not amused. He was a man who could laugh at himself and if the timing had been right by Wormtail, he would have had laughed. " Whatever." He said, in a dismissive voice. " Did you hear what I said – no more killing till we have what we came here. You might like the new toy master has given you, but rest assured, he'll kill us both if we return empty handed."

Wormtail didn't say anything. He didn't like the man – nor did want him. When his master gave him the task of retrieving the jewel, he had also assigned that man to his group. Though Wormtail was the one in command, since he was the only one that knew what they were going to be up against. He would have had set the Kabal straight – but the look out yelled, " There're coming, they're coming..."

' Eight.' Wormtail thought.

" How many?" said the man next to Wormtail as he ran to the lookout.

" About ten to fifteen, I think..." The man's effort to squint to see better could be felt by all the other people there.

" Count the damned buggers." The sharp tone of Wormtail's voice was chilling. There was no more noise as the enemy approached ever closer.

The shorter man squinted more. " Eight sir," He shouted. " There's eight of them. Four of 'em on horses – or something like that."

" What're we going to do?" asked one of the younger recruits close to Wormtail. 

" Let them come." Wormtail's response was met with stunned silence. Usually deatheaters just learned how to cast the unforgivable in training sessions and leaving themselves to attack was not a wise move. Not even the most inexperienced amongst them failed to see that. 

One of them voiced the concern of others. Very valid argument, but Wormtail did not like it. The man who questioned his methods was none other than Kabal the Killer, the infamous mass murderer of thirteen Aurors the night before Voldemort's downfall. He was the only other person in the group that had killing experience, but Wormtail did not care for that. His orders were questioned and he did not like it.

" We're..." He said it tersely – the other man thinking that he had won the "argument" turned his back on Wormtail. 

Kabal should have had known better than to do break the cardinal rule amongst the deatheaters - _Never turn your back on your comrades_. Wormtail took out his wand quickly and pointed it at the back of the man's head. He whispered, "Avada Kedavra," and the with burst of green life was extinguished out of the man. Kabal's lifeless body fell to the snow face down. Wormtail laughed maniacally. " Kabal," he said, " you talk too much. Just listen, next time."

Wormtail's ruthlessness was funny to the recruits when Jonkins had been eliminated, but somehow loosing the only other person that seemed to be a match for Wormtail put everything into persperctive. It drove home the fact that Wormtail would not hesitate – like their comrades to use them and then dispose of them after he needed them not. There was no guarantee that he was not going to kill them all after the battle to present the stone to the dark lord himself and take all the credit for it either. The new deatheaters now stood so that they could see the enemy, but made sure that they could see their leader too from the corner of their eyes. Many of them wondered how they had ended up there - between facing an unknown enemy and an enemy amongst their "friends". They would not forget the cardinal rule ever again. 

Deatheaters looked on as four of the eight from the castle ran a short distance towards them, stopping a fair few metres from the castle – far enough to be still not seen clearly by them, but close enough to see that they were doing there. As deatheaters watched, the four who were previously on the horses did seemingly nothing but just stand there, while the other four spread out slightly in an arc. Kneeling down they started to chant! No one laughed at this, because they could feel the magic in the air and the viscosity seemed to just increase. Two of the deatheaters started to cough and gasp for air. Fortunately for the deatheaters' it was not an attack. Unfortunately it was the prelude to one. 

The voices that had been distinct before seem to phase in and out of cohesion, until they did become one unified voice of equal pitch and frequency. And one of great power. The moment it happened, the magic that had filled the air before, disappeared and formed itself into a shimmering liquid wall with a "whoop" kind of noise. It stretched out the entire length of the snowy plane and looked very out of place in a place where their breath looks like steam from a hot kettle. The deep snow also made the wall look very unholy, almost evil. Ironic really, since deatheaters were the bad people.

On instinct, several of the deatheaters took a step back, but that turned out to be a mistake. The wall or the people behind the wall interpreted that the deatheaters were advancing towards it, and retaliated by sending out several spear sharp tendrils of the liquid at them. The flexible tendrils had no problems in impaling two of them in the chest and one other on the back of his head as he mad his way to the safety of Wormtail. Several others suffered minor injuries as they dove to avoid and the tendrils. The tendrils seem to spout smaller blades on the surface to maximize the damage, when they were neared a human.

One would have had expected the blood to splatter out of the wounds, when the tendrils came out the other side other bodies that they had impaled, but it did not. The deatheaters watched in horror as the tendrils started to soak up all the moisture from the body of the victims, leaving behind a husk of lifeless human flesh that disintegrated in seconds – leaving only the extremely dry bones. 

The survivors all rallied behind Wormtail – who looked on totally unconcerned. The tendrils retracted, and the wall came closer to them. While the people behind him cowered, Wormtail saw the wall sprout more tendrils and speed towards him this time. He was totally unnerved by the situation. Two deatheaters on his right side died screaming in agony as the tendrils soaked up the moisture from their bodies – others had been spared the pain before because they died instantly when the liquid spear had attacked them. Two more of the deatheaters cowering behind rocks, were pierced right through the rocks – shattering it as they went through and showering them with the bits. 

The one that was meant for Wormtail was caught in the mid air by him. Voldemort had told him what to do it if they make a wall (like that they had), but he 'forgot' to tell how much pain it would cause him. The liquid felt like hot magma to him and the silver in his hand started to fade as the enormous amount of magic that he was doing without a wand started to take it's toll. Wormtail had been told of a way to stop the liquid wall, but he really didn't know it. It was instinctual – something his master had woven into his silver hand.

Just when Wormtail started to fear that maybe his master had not done a good job of making his hand for him, the spell started to take affect. The shimmering blue and white watery tendril turned black in his hand, and the colour started to diffuse upwards through the tendril and into the wall structure.

When the entire wall was black, people chanting started to scream – their body writhing in the thick snow covered ground. It was difficult for Wormtail to see, if the people were dead or still alive. But all that mattered little to him – since the wall had disappeared and the enemy halved. The cheer of his fellow deatheaters that had survived was a very pleasant sound to Wormtail. He carefully examined his hand and gave a sigh of relief, when he saw the silver colouring was returning. 

Except where he had grabbed the tendril, it had turned flesh and blood there. You see the silver hand allowed Wormtail to cast simple spells without a wand, draining off a little of the silver as a price for the power to do so. The more powerful the spell the more the drain and casting a spell like the unforgivable without the wand would mean that he would loose his silver hand totally – leaving him a flesh and blood hand. 

He was furious that a part of his hand would not get it's silverness back. " Just for this," he waved his hand frantically in the air yelling, " I'll rape your women and kill your children, then I'll burn your men – ALIVE – but not before I personally cut off …."

He didn't finish his sentence. He was furious, and he started to shoot curses instead of anything. A furious Wormtail was terribly bad shot – unable to hit the enemy well, and when he did anything other than the very powerful unforgivables, they were either dodged or absorbed like they didn't even exist by the enemy. Wormtail wondered what their skin was made of. He vowed to make a cloak out of their hides. Before Wormtail could tell the rest of his comrades to start using the unforgivables, the ground started to shake. 

Snow that had gathered on the branches of trees nearby for days, fell and birds fled the almost inhospitable forest that surrounded the castle. Wormtail looked out at the cause of it and his jaw fell right open. 

A golden circle had appeared parallel to the white snow before them and it was rising. When it was chest high, the circle swung on a horizontal axis to face the deatheaters. The golden lines of the circle were alluring and almost hypnotic. Three concentric circles made up the pattern, which had one straight line running through the middle vertically. The centre circle was small – no bigger than a human head. The second one was much bigger almost reaching the Wormtail's head from the ground. 

The third line was an invisible one that people could see when they looked at the pattern. The way that symbols hang in mid air gave the feeling that there was another invisible one they were tact onto. The symbols moved and the lines in the pattern shimmered – something deep inside him told him to fear the circle.

" Back! Spread out!" He yelled at his people. His quick action had saved all but two. The circle had split along the vertical line, like two half moons, sending out a massive beam of golden energy which consumed almost anything on it's path. Snow, rocks and the trees – and the aforementioned two deatheaters. When the beam hit the snow it melted right through it and the ground shook from for the second time that day.

" Unforgivables." Wormtail yelled. " Kill them all. Kill those scaly bastards!

~o0o~

The battle went on into the evening, and in the end only three remained - Alina and Blake and Wormtail. The surviving side of good had lost their loves to the deatheaters. Wormtail was of the only death eater to survive, but he did not know how long he was going to stay alive if they had the power to summon another beast. 

You see the battle had gone really badly for the deatheaters after Wormtail had yelled for the unforgivables to be used. The shadow raiders started to summon beast of demonic nature – things with three eyes and horn had to be demonic. His men were massacred, and the way they were savagely killed made Wormtail wonder how good the side of good could have been considering they were summoning up demonic beasts. The beasts were small in the beginning, but increasingly as time went on the good people summoned them in greater numbers and sizes. 

Wormtail realising that the girls had the power to summon the beast from the circle, while the males seemed to control them tried to take out the girls. When he missed and hit one of the men, he was happy till he realised that carnage that followed was because of the dead controller. He was however unrepentant, when one of the summoned beasts took out one of the girls. He did get two birds with one stone but the price was that the creatures went on a rampage and massacred the all the deatheaters other than him.

The creatures fed on the dead bodies of the deatheaters – spattering blood and body parts as they ate. Loosing their friends and for Alina her love, they forgot totally about the fact that they were supposed to let the deatheaters take the stone or letting "Silver Hand" survive. Their loss had overwhelmed all other thoughts." I'm going to kill him," cried Alina . " I'll kill that bustard."

They didn't care what the Orkon had said about leaving Silverhand alive. " Not if I kill him first." said Blake as he wiped of the blood from the corner of his lips to tasted it. It was bitter and hot - just the way he was feeling. He wanted to kill the last remaining man and just go to sleep, hoping that he would wake up dead and with Ekaterina. 

He had never told her how he had come to love and respect her. It made the loss greater. It was a very cruel joke that the world had played on him – he had intended to voice his love that day. " I heard something," Alina said suddenly. Blake looked out to the west and saw nothing suspicious. He was going to check in on another direction, when Alina broke into a run to where Kaleka had fallen. " There... it's Kaleka... he's alive..." She was yelling.

Something made him run after her and try to stop her. He knew he was seeing his the bruised and battered body of his friend rising up, but something was telling him not to believe it. Before he could catch up to her, he tripped on a dead mangled body of one of the creatures they had summoned – one which had half it's leg eaten by another then had summoned. As he quickly picked himself up, he saw a silver glint and then he saw Wormtail's grabbing Alina by the neck. Wormtail intended to use her as a shield.

There was a scar on Wormtail's face that looked to be the work of the baby Penogolar – three-eyed monster with six arms and a very bad temper. It stretched across his entire face diagonally and would make him look meaner than he really was capable of looking. There were some burn hair on the man too.

" This is a pretty woman you have here..." Wormtail said snidely. His hand was at the base of her throat and there was something glowing red in his hand. His other hand strongly held her slight frame to his, making sure to hold her hand to her sides. " She is pretty... very pretty...It'd be a shame for something unpleasant to happen..." 

It sickened Wormtail to do what he was doing. Holding a humanoid creature with scales, dark yellow skin and pungent aroma was sickening. The argonian's were not humans. They were a humanoid species of mammals who resembled lizards. (A/N: Did you see it coming?)

Alina  tried to escape, but the short man seemed to be a lot stronger than he should be. She had tried to stump on his foot while she tried to get free, but stopped, when the man didn't make a single noise. " Don't you dare harm her, Human..." Blake's slitted eyes filled with rage. His hatred for wormtail was something very palpably similar to that of the darklord himself when he spoke of Harry. He had lost his friend and his love in one day, and he was not about to loose another friend. 

" Don't threaten me, you ugly beast. I'm the one with the hostage!" he clamped harder onto Alina's throat.

" What do you want, silverhand?" Blake backed a bit away.

" Silverhand! Ahh.. So that's what you think my name is?"

Blake stopped moving and said, " We don't give a damn about who or what you are... just let her go."

Wormtail laughed. The girl stomped on his foot again, but it got no reaction from him. " Straight to business. I like that. The stone. I want the stone of Tundra."

" What is it?" Blake pleaded ignorance.

" You know damn well what it is. I want it."

Blake and Kaleka were the only ones ever told that they were supposed to hand the enemy the stone and when Alina saw Blake give in she feared that her husband's sacrifice would have been in vein. " Blake don't!..." she started, but Wormtail applied pressure to her throat.

" I can't..." Blake started, but Wormtail interrupted.

" You better get it to me, or else..." Wormtail's hand that held her arm to her side shifted so that he could move it up her abdomen and towards her breast. It might have been sick to smell them, but they had humanoid body and Wormtail guessed that a sexual threat might them more likely to respond.

" Stop!" Yelled someone other than Blake. Wormtail looked up to see a very old man in front of him. The man exuded power like a leaky faucet. Wormtail almost did as he was told, but came to his sense. He did however stop his hands going up the girl's body any more than it had. " Let her go" he said.

" No!" Wormtail looked irritated. " Don't you people know that I have the hostage. I'm the one that makes the demands. Not you!"

The elderly male asked very coolly, " What do you want?"

Wormtail lost patience. " What the hell would I come here for? Your women are ugly and they smell. Your castle is half destroyed and the other half looks terrible. Your library has not secret books. You have neither gold nor any good farmland. Think old man! What could I have had come here for?"

" You want the stone?"

" By Merlin! Took you people long enough to admit that you have it." Wormtail said being rather sarcastic.

" First the girl."

Wormtail laughed. " As if!"

" That's the deal. We lost too many people today and we don't want one more. We'll give you the stone, all you have to do is take it and run. But first, my daughter."

" I've lost "friends" too, but they don't matter. The stone first or no deal."

The old man and Wormtail looked into each other's eyes and an intense glance passed between them. " You win," said the old man, throwing the dark jewel to the snow. " Now, my daughter." Wormtail looked at the stone and the power coming off needed no authenticity check. It was the stone of Tundra.

" Are you going to kill me when I let her go?"

" Let me have my daughter." The old man refused to answer the question.

Wormtail made the girl bend down with him, while he picked up the jewel. Once it was in his pocket, he decided that he would kill the girl anyway. _One less ugly creature out there. _He was about to release the glowing energy that he had accumulated in his hand and held her as a hostage when the old man suddenly seem to phase out of existence, before reappearing only inches from him. 

With a grip more powerful than a man of his age should have been capable of, he twisted and crushed Wormtail's fingers. Free from Wormtail, Alina watched as her father, Orkon, made Wormtail pay. Making the enemy howl in pain. She was going to try and help, but Blake held her back, almost as if he knew something that she did not. Her father started to cast spells on the man's sliver hand, draining it of the silver and making blood come out of Wormtail's eyes like they were tear drops. 

When the hand has turned almost completely normal, Wormtail's old personality asserted itself – he started getting very afraid of what was coming. All he could think was that it was just the beginning and he was not far off. The old wizard phased in and out of existence, before he somehow made himself into a humanoid mass of energy and directed himself to Wormtail's silver hand. 

" Suffer the pain that you've caused..."

Wormtail did not feel any pain. To the contrary, he felt more full of energy than a few moments before. It seemed that the man's plan had failed, and his master's gift had used to energy that was meant to kill him to revive him from the brink of pain and death. Looking down at his hand, he could see the silveriness returning to his limb and with it came his more assertive personality. Realising that he had to fall back since he was in no condition to fight anyone and he was lucky that the two survivors were in shock to react to him. 

He was sure that in his weakened condition, he could not have fought them off. Wormtail picked up the red glowing orb from the ground and scrambled to where the barrier ended. He laughed to himself for getting away so efficiently. 

But something went wrong when he tried to apparate. A Mass of energy appeared out of thin air and surrounded him. There was a brilliant white flash followed by a shock that felt as though he had been struck by lightning. He was struck sever more times, before his body disappeared with an agonisingly painful howl. As he apparated, Wormtail realised that the old man had succeeded – though he did not know what it was that the old man had done. He was not sure how or if he would tell him master of this. It would be a grave mistake to reveal to his master that his ability to do magic was somehow limited. It would mean that his usefulness coming to an end. Something – he could not let happen. He had much to do.

~o0o~

**Request from me:**

Please go and **READ & REVIEW** : Harry Potter and the Fall of Childhood. It is the best H/Hr fanfic I've ever read. It's actually saying that it's not H/Hr this book, but don't you believe the word that the author uses. "Thin overlay of H/Hr" is a blatant lie! I am totally in love with this fic. Go read it here : **http://fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=697946**

**Ben: **You're still there. 

**Lateness: **I've been focussing a lot on the website, and as such have had little time. 

**Cliffhanger : **Sorry about that.

**Reviews : Wow! **Lots of them. Well here's the other part. I'm as yet not sure if this part has been through a beta of now. Jeremy did a great job of beta editing at first, but then I reedited them – and reedited those. I ruined a lot of his great work. So please don't say that he's not good. He's excellent. Scant few of my chapters have been through a beta. And even then, it's more than likely that my editing ruined them.


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